


Rite of Passage

by MikaCienfuegos



Series: Creatures of the Night [2]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Azarath, Birthday, Demonic invasion, Demons, F/F, Growing Up, Rites of Passage, Vampires, teen titans east
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:46:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24831070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaCienfuegos/pseuds/MikaCienfuegos
Summary: Raven’s 20th birthday is approaching and with it her coming of age ritual. The Titans travel to Azarath and chaos ensues as the seal protecting that dimension breaks and hordes of demons attack. To spice things back home, Mika lives her own adventure along Titans East. Sequel story of “Creatures of the Night”.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Raven (DCU)/Original Character(s)
Series: Creatures of the Night [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661047
Kudos: 6





	1. PROLOGUE

“It has began…” 

Raven recoiled from the searing pain in her wrist, and the ominous mark burned in her skin. Everything began falling apart. Her friends ran in panic as the massive construction of concrete and metal threatened to extinguish the light of their eyes. 

And she knew his words were true. It had began. 

Images of skies burning, flesh turning into stone and the sun setting to never rise again plagued her every thought. The destruction of everything she ever loved.

“What you have concealed, you shall become, you have no other choice, your destiny shall be fulfilled...” 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Raven woke up screaming, drenched in sweat. Her heart was beating hard in her chest. She was alone in her bedroom. She had gotten tangled in her bed sheets and the small wolf plushie Mika had given her was kicked all the way across the room.

She had never been more thankful of waking up alone. She didn’t feel like explaining her nightmare to her new girlfriend. 

There was a soft knock on her door and her heart sped up again. So she breathed in deeply and reached out with her senses the presence behind the door. Dick Grayson was on the other side. 

The empath grabbed a t-shirt to cover herself up a little bit, as she had been sleeping only in panties, before opening slightly the door. 

“Hey…” 

Her friend was carrying his staff in one hand and a batarang in the other. He came rushing with his weapons even though he was only in boxers. It would have been funny or made her uncomfortable if she were not so disturbed by the nightmare. 

“Are you alright? I heard you screaming.” asked the barely awake vigilante trying to see past her into her room in case there was some threat hiding in the shadows. 

“I’m fine.” reassured the empath, before candidly adding. “I forgot we have paper thin walls… guess I won’t be bringing my girlfriend home any time soon.” 

Dick blinked twice before growing red. The meaning of her comment finally clicking in his half sleep state. 

“Too soon to joke about it?” wondered Raven noticing his discomfort. “I’m sorry for waking you up. I was just having a nightmare.” 

“Oh… do you want to talk about it?” offered her friend finally relaxing his stance. 

“I appreciate your offer, but as impressive as your staff is, I don’t think it's appropriate to have you in my bedroom at this hour like that.” 

Dick blinked twice again before turning down to see his almost naked body was on display. “Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to… I’ll just go to bed now.” 

“Yeah… good night.” 

He turned around quickly and disappeared into his room just a few feet away from hers. Raven closed her door and leaned her head on it. It was that time of the year again. Her birthday was approaching… 

.

To be continued...


	2. That time of the year…

Raven woke up the next morning past noon. After tossing and turning for several hours she had fallen asleep somewhere around 5am; so she was glad no one had come to disturb her. After all, it wasn’t unusual of her nowadays; between her superhero duties and her vampire girlfriend, she was usually up all night and could rarely be seen sharing breakfast with her teammates anymore. 

At first they forgot about Raven’s new nocturnal lifestyle and they would go barging in her door early in the morning, only to find themselves plummeting out the window encased in a ball of dark energy. After 2 months they knew better than to mess with the dark Titan during her beauty sleep, so they would just leave her alone; and on some rare occasion she would wake up to find them gone somewhere without her. 

Today, was one of those days, and she couldn’t be more thankful. Although it was almost 4 years since her father’s demise, her birthday always carried with it a certain sense of dread. Regardless of her friend’s efforts, it was hard to put it all behind her. So she just resigned herself to have to deal with it and hope time would eventually ease her worries. 

The empath had just sat in front of the big windows to meditate, when the sounds of footsteps and laughter, along with the distinct smell of pizza quickly brought her back to the present. 

“Yo Rae, glad you are up!” hollered Cyborg “‘cause these babies were not going to last for long. I’m starving.” 

Raven sighed, but knew better than to feel bad about the interruption in her meditation. She was used to living with them and pizza was really sounding great right now. Way better than her rumbling stomach. So she took a seat next to them in the table and grabbed a slice. Perhaps all she needed was some good family time to take her mind of her birthday.

“So Raven, are you ready for your birthday?” asked Victor cheerfully. 

_ Ok, maybe not.  _

“Yeah, we have a surprise for you!” exclaimed the Changeling enthusiastically. 

“I don’t do surprises.” answered Raven in a monotone voice. 

“That’s why we are going to tell you beforehand, so you don’t blow us out the window when you receive it.” Raven arched an eyebrow. Garfield knew her too well sometimes. “Ok, here is the deal. Your birthday is in a few days, so we are throwing a big ass birthday party for you.” 

“That’s not a surprise Gar. You do that every year.” 

“Oh but this time it’s special, you are turning 20, which means you are no longer a teen. So, in this special occasion we are inviting all Titans and Honorary Titans to throw the best party you’ve ever had!” her green friend was obviously daydreaming about the party. Last time someone had turned 20, which had been Richard, the older boys had gotten beer and he had sneaked some for himself, even though he was not legally allowed to. A drunken bunch of teenage superheroes was not her idea of fun. 

“Guys, I appreciate the gesture, but how do you know I don’t already have plans for that day… somewhere else…” 

“Oooohhh does your girlfriend have something romantic planned for you?” wondered Starfire with lovey dovey eyes. 

“I’m not saying a thing… just please cancel the party, I might not be around that day.” 

Raven grabbed another slice of pizza and left to head for her bedroom. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once the dark titan left the common room, the voices in her head made themselves present; which usually happened when there was big turmoil in her psyche. As she walked down the hallway she began an interesting argument with herself. 

_ Why did you do that? It’s not like Mika has anything planned for that day… she doesn’t even know it’s our birthday that day! _ – chastised Happy. 

“She’s not supposed to know…. not yet.” 

_ Why?  _

“She will probably go overboard and do something extremely special for that day to make me feel like a princess.” 

_ And that’s bad because… _ \- her overly enthusiastic emotion was not sure what was her point. 

“Because my birthday is not something I like to celebrate. It always reminds me of what I am.” huffed the half demoness with a grimace. “Of what I hate of me... I’m just not ready to share that part of me with her.” 

_You don’t have to tell her all the negative shit that surrounds our birthday… she's not expecting that since people don’t usually carry that much baggage, so she won’t press for it. She might even make you forget about it for a while._ \- added Wisdom to the conversation. 

“No, I don’t like it when she spends so much money on me. And I know she will if she knows it's my birthday... I mean, she got a yacht for me to lose my virginity!” 

_ Then why don’t you just tell her your friends are throwing a party for you, so she doesn’t plan anything big on her own.  _

“And have Mika mingle with all the other superheroes? I don’t think so.” 

_ You are embarrassed!? _ – yelped Brave stunned. Apparently the conversation had dragged the attention of several emoticlones. 

“No! Well maybe a little...” admitted the Titan. “It is awkward enough being around my friends when she comes to the Tower; just imagine how awkward it will be with all the other Titans. I don’t want to deal with a public coming out on my birthday.” 

_ She’s right… we are not ready for that… _ \- added Timid in a low voice. 

_ Fair enough. But don’t you think you should tell that to your friends? What if they accidentally out you with the others?  _ – warned Wisdom worriedly. 

“They are not that stupid… well maybe BB is. But even so, I think it is awkward for them as well to see me with a girl, I don’t think they are going to talk about it with other people.” 

_ Alright, what are you telling Mika then? Will you admit to her that you want to keep her a secret from the rest of the world?”  _

“I don’t know, I’ll think of something. Plus, she’s always been very patient with my process. I don’t think she’ll get mad.” 

_ You talk about her as if she were a saint. Sure, she’s been patient and understanding, but she did throw a tantrum and left the first time you didn’t kiss her on the beach. She was seriously hurt when you wouldn’t tell our friends, and if she finds out its our birthday and you kept it from her, she’s going to get royally pissed by it or at least feel enormously disappointed. _

“Oh shut up!” 

She closed her door with a slam. Her emoticlones had a point, but she decided to deal with it later. 

As she arrived at her room she noticed there was something different. Like a presence of some sorts. Everything looked the same though. Raven’s room was very dark; her curtains were barely open so everything was in shadows. Her demonic eyes allowed her to see perfectly in the dark, but even then she could not pinpoint what was different. In a quick scan she noticed her books were in place, her laptop was on top of her desk where it should be, her crystal ball was on top of her drawer, and her bed housed the two stuffed animals she owned: a wolf Mika gave her on a date and the big chicken Beast Boy had gotten for her at a fair. Everything looked the same as she had left it. 

She opened the curtains to see with more clarity and there’s where she saw it. In the window, seen against the sunlight, was a letter imprinted on the crystal. She immediately knew it came from Azarath, her homeland. Since a great amount of energy was needed for the passage between dimensions, the easiest way to send messages was through mirrors and crystals. In the lack of a vanity mirror, this message was imprinted on the big window in her room. What amazed her was that it was written in English rather than Sanskrit, the official writing of the monks. 

The letter was from her mother…

She closed the curtains back again in panic. In 6 years never had her mother written to her and she was very confused by the meaning of it. And so close to her birthday, it felt rather portentous. 

Raven knew she couldn’t just ignore it, so she took a deep breath and uncovered the letter once again.

_ [Greetings my beloved Rachel,  _

_ I hope you are alright. I know we have not seen in a while, and when we did it was not in the best of times. But I write to you now in more joyous light. Your 20th birthday is approaching, and as you know, it is a special occasion here in Azarath. I urge you to come home soon so we may discuss the details of your Zarathian Passage. There is plenty for us to arrange before the day comes. I’ll be waiting for you.  _

_ Farewell my daughter, may Azar bless you. _

_ Arella. _ ]

Raven sat on the floor in front of the window, reading over and over again the short message. The Zarathian Passage was an important ritual in her people’s culture. It was a coming of age ritual to welcome a new adult into Azarath’s society. Azar herself, their ruler and spiritual leader, presided over such events, where she bestowed blessings and assigned the role the new adult would play in their peaceful society. It was a joyous occasion and everyone attended with gifts and food to partake of a huge feast. 

The Titan was shaken by it. Never had her mother celebrated her birthday, for reasons obvious to Raven; and now she wanted to prepare a Zarathian Passage celebration. 

“Never would Azarathians gather to celebrate my birthday! Is Arella trying to make fun of me!?” yelped the empath in outrage. 

It was just too much to take. Her concerns about flashy parties, and coming out to her friends were thrown out the window. 

_ Arella says she’ll be waiting for us. Let’s just go see her and tell her to shove her Zarathian Passage up her ass! It shouldn’t be hard, she did shove a big demonic dick up her…”  _

“I seriously don’t need that image!” 

Raven ignored the rest of the argument that had sprung between her emoticlones, and concentrated in lighting up some candles in a circle around her. 

With much effort she managed to quiet her voices enough to begin her incantation and go back to her place of birth. 

“AZARATHMETRIONZINTHOS… KALAZONRACASHOSENDARATH… VASIRIXZENDREINAZARATH… AZARATHAZARATH!” 

.

To be continued...


	3. The Zarathian Passage

Raven traveled through dimensions in a swirl of blue lights. This time there was no hell fire trying to bind her to earth and she swiftly got to the portal leading to Azarath. Once there, the seal that protects that dimension from demonic invasion activated, recognizing Raven’s heritage. And just like last time, the daughter of Trigon had to push herself though in order to go back home. 

Next thing she knew she was not levitating above Azarath like last time. Now she was floating in water in the middle of a lake. As she swam to the shore she recognized she was not in the main island, the capital city of Azar had no lakes. She was probably in one of the little floating islands that orbited around the city. 

After a few minutes she finally reached the shore and walked to a cottage nearby. The place was unlike any other building in that dimension; Azarathian architecture was futuristic in style. Still, it looked familiar somehow, like she had been there before. 

Outside the cottage there stood a tulip garden and a big apple tree with a swing hanging from one of its branches. The cottage itself was made of wood and painted in a washed out pink color. She got to the porch and there were wind chimes hanging in the shape of white doves. As the wind caressed the chimes a melodic sound filled her ears and she felt completely relaxed. Then she remembered why it looked familiar… 

“It looks just like Love’s cottage.” murmured Raven, remembering the realm where one of her emoticlones lived. It was a place she rarely visited in Nevermore, but she was certain that was it. 

“Love’s cottage?” 

Raven turned around at the sound of a voice behind her, to find her mother was standing a few feet away with a bag of groceries in her hands. 

“Arella.” 

“Rachel.” 

They just stood there for a few minutes; it had been a while since they last saw each other and they seemed to be taking in each other’s presence. Arella gave her a small smile which Raven returned halfheartedly. 

“You did come.” 

“Yeah…” replied Raven fidgeting in place. “Soooo, what is this place?” 

“This is where I live. I am actually glad you found your way here so fast.” 

“Once I went through the seal I immediately appeared in the lake. I just had to swim here.” 

“Yes, I can see you are wet. Come, you need to change, or you might get sick. I’ll lend you some fresh clothes.” 

Arella walked her inside, and Raven was welcomed into a cozy living room with a chimney and a warm fire. On a far end, there was a piano next to a big window that overlooked the lake. Arella disappeared in one of the rooms and emerged with clean robes on her hands. 

“Here, you can change in that room.” said her mother pointing at a door. “While you change I’ll start to prepare dinner.” 

Raven went in and she found a kiddies room. The walls were painted baby blue and had cute bears on them. The bed was small and there were a few toys on a rocking chair. She changed her clothes and realized they were just like the robes Arella used. With those clothes on she looked just like her mother, the only difference being her skin color. 

She got out and headed for the kitchen were her mother was cooking. Arella turned around and gasped. “You are so tall.” 

“Guess we are the same size now.”

“Well, come my child, dinner is ready.”

“I’m not really hungry.” answered the Titan trying to refuse the invitation.

Arella was having none of it, and urged her to the table. “Please join me; I made plenty for both of us.”

Raven sat down and Arella placed a vegetable soup in front of her and a basket with fresh bread. The Titan began eating slowly. The food was warm and fulfilling. She savored the taste remembering the dishes the monks used to feed her back at the temple, mostly vegetarian; Garfield would have enjoyed it.

“Do you like it?” 

“Yeah, it’s good. It’s been a while since I ate something like this.” 

“What do you usually eat?” asked Arella making small talk. 

“Mostly pizza…” Raven smiled a little at her own admission of unhealthy eating habits. “I grew up with a bunch of teenage superheroes; all we ever have in the kitchen is frozen food, root beer and potato chips.”

“Sounds like you have a lot of fun there.” 

“Sometimes...” admitted Raven, making Arella nod in understanding. 

“Arella, why does this place look so familiar to me?”

“Well, this is the place where you were born. That was your room Rachel. We both used to live here before you went to live at the Temple of Azar.” explained the older woman in a nostalgic tone. “This is your home.” 

Raven took in the information and turned to look around a little surprised. It was exactly as Love’s realm in Nevermore. She had only been there once, but it kind of made sense that part of her psyche was shaped after the place she was born. 

“How come I don’t remember?” 

“You were a baby back then.” Her mother sighed as she looked at her up and down. “And now you are a beautiful grown up woman.” 

“Yeah, that actually reminds me of what brings me here.” recalled Raven cutting to the point, not wanting to get into emotional matters. 

“Yes, your Zarathian Passage. I am glad you came. I was afraid you might not want to partake of such an important celebration for our people.” 

“Are you joking?” snapped Raven slamming the spoon on the table. 

“Excuse me?” Arella was taken aback by the sudden display of emotion from her ever controlled daughter. 

“Why would I have a Zarathian Passage?” snarled the empath. “I mean, I am not exactly popular here. Most people are afraid of me.” 

Arella realized then the immense pain and confusion the abruptness of her letter brought to her daughter. So she stood up from her chair in front of her, to kneeled down by her side. She gently placed her hand on Raven’s, which still clutched the spoon turning her knuckles white. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t imagine that would be so stressful for you. But you would be surprised of how much things have changed around here regarding the perception of you.” 

“What do you mean?” asked Raven, relaxing just a little. 

“Raven you are a hero. You defeated your father and changed the destiny of Earth and Azarath. Your legend will be told to every newborn for generations to come. Everyone is excited for your upcoming birthday. Expect a huge celebration in you honor my daughter.” 

Raven was in shock. Her brain was not processing the information. Inside her mind, Nevermore was in disarray. Her emoticlones had gathered in Wisdom’s library and were all now talking at the same time trying to make sense of how she was supposed to be feeling. She felt mad, she felt glad, she felt confused, she felt sad, she felt relief...

Arella stood up and took her place in front of her at the table again. Patiently waiting for Raven to process the information. After a few minutes in comfortable silence, the Titan began talking again. 

“My friends where planning a big party for me back home, with every Titan on the planet. And I thought that was too much, that they were overdoing it. I even told them to cancel it. But this…” 

“You are much loved Raven. Please accept participating in your coming of age ritual. Your friends can join the celebration; the Titans will be praised as heroes.” pleaded her mother. “You did not come here to refuse it, did you?” 

“Refusing sounds mild to the words that crossed my mind when coming here if I’m been honest.” 

“Please… just give it a chance.” 

“I don’t know. This feels like a dream or a cruel joke… I never had a birthday party before here in Azarath; I never imagined you would call me for my Zarathian Passage.” 

“You did have a birthday party once…” assured her mother. 

“I did?” asked Raven even more surprised. 

“Yes…” Arella stood up and grabbed a photo from a drawer, and handed it to Raven. “Here…” 

In the picture there was her mother holding a baby girl with huge violet eyes like her hair. They were in front of a birthday cake that looked like a really bad homemade attempt and one lit up candle besides it. 

“You were only one. That was the only birthday I was allowed to have you, the next year they took you away to the temple to begin your training.” 

“I don’t remember this…” 

“You were very little. But I do remember. I remember holding you in my arms and blowing out the candle, wishing for us to one day to have a normal life.” 

“Did you really think you could blow out the candles and wish it all to go away?!” without meaning it, Slade’s words rang loudly in her mind as she uttered them back to her mother. 

The pain on Arella’s face mirrored her own at the memory. 

Her mother lowered her face as she muttered under her breath. “I know it probably sounds childish to you now… but I was not entirely a grown up back then.” 

Raven felt a little ashamed by the harshness of her own words. But she was too proud to apologize, so instead she tried to make her mother see where those words were coming from. 

“As a kid I always wished to be like the other kids, and participate in their games and festivities. But the grown ups would frown at that, and told me that was not meant for me. So I just stayed in to meditate. I got used to living in the dark and no amount of wishing would get me out of there...” 

Her mother nodded in understanding. She was after all responsible in part for the hardships her daughter had to endure growing up. All the abandonment she felt. She swallowed that pain and took in the courage to continue explaining, hoping to somehow make up for it from now on. 

“Raven, part of the ritual is to leave behind our childhood conceptions and fears, and embrace light as a new person... I know we cannot atone for the pain we put you through, but perhaps this will help you heal those wounds.” Arella took the silence, and Raven’s attentive eyes on her as a confirmation that she could continue. “Azar herself will bless you with spiritual gifts that will grant you the possibility to feel more freely. I believe, that is something you of all people would appreciate.” 

Raven meditated her words for a few minutes. Her schooled features dared not betray all she was containing within. But her mother’s tenderness and raw honesty finally managed to calm her and make her open up to the possibility. 

“You said in the letter there were various things to prepare before the big day. What kind of things?”

“We have to prepare your vows as a new adult, you will need a special diet with no meat in your meals for the previous 3 days, prepare an offering to take to the temple, and we have to make your ceremonial robe. We can choose the colors and tomorrow I’ll get what we need.” 

“Can I wear dark blue?” asked the Titan. 

“It wouldn’t be very traditional... colors are symbolic, they represent different things. Imagine your ceremonial gown like a wedding dress; is not very appropriate to wear a red one.” 

“So, should I wear something like white then?” 

“White would be the most ideal choice… you are a virgin right?” 

The empath was still kind of overwhelmed and didn’t know what to answer at such an intimate question. She just grabbed bread and stuffed it in her mouth, hoping Gar’s lame distraction technique might work. It didn’t. 

“Raven?”

“Am I supposed to be?” 

“Well like I said, it is like a wedding dress... everyone still use white regardless of their purity.” 

“Are you disappointed?” asked the empath timidly unsure of what her mother might think of it. 

“What? No, not at all my child. I was 16 when you were born, is not like I am one to judge regarding that matter.” 

“Right…” said Rae as she resumed eating. 

“So, you have a boyfriend?” asked her mother. 

“You could say that…” 

“Are you two being safe?” wondered her mother. 

“Safe?” 

“Yes, you know. Do you take precautions? Have birth control plans?” 

“Arella! Do you really find it appropriate that we talk about this?” blurted out the empath. She was extremely embarrassed. 

“Sorry, I should not pry on your private life. But I am still your mother, even if we are not very close. And I worry.” 

Raven said nothing. She was glad for the food in front of her, for it gave her an excuse not to talk. This was an awkward moment. She had never sat at the table with her mother, let alone had a mother-daughter talk; and now here was Arella trying to “bond” and have the “bees and birds” talk. 

“I would like you to meet your siblings.” Arella finally interrupted her train of thoughts. 

“I have siblings?” 

“Yes. Milo and Kamile, they are staying at Azar’s Temple right now, but you’ll meet them soon.” 

“Arella, you got married?” Raven thought it was too much new information for her. 

“No, I did not get married.” 

“Ok, now it’s my turn to ask if YOU have birth control plans?” 

Arella chuckled. “I adopted them after you left for earth.” 

“Oh… Why?” 

“Guess I missed you.” 

Raven rolled her eyes and then realized her mother had caught her in the act of been rude. “Sorry, I find it a little hard to believe. You rarely visited me at the temple.” 

“I was not allowed to.” confessed her mother. 

“Why?” 

“They believed it was dangerous, you were still learning to control your emotions.” 

“I guess I get that. I was a demonic child. But, did you really wanted to see me? Didn’t I remind you of him? Even my skin color is different.” 

“I have to confess to you Raven that I suffered all my pregnancy, had it not being for the Azarathian monks that found me; I would have committed suicide before you were born.” 

“So, you really didn’t want me then?” asked Raven a little hurt, although not exactly surprised by her comment. 

“No… not at first. But the moment you were born and I grabbed you in my arms for the first time, I knew I had to do all in my power to protect you. You were so small, with eyes so full of wonder. I’m sorry for not having been around as you grew up, but I was learning to control my emotions at the same time you were. My emotional imbalance would have affected you in your learning.” Arella’s face betrayed no emotion; she was now a devoted practitioner of self control. But Raven was an empath, and she could not hide from her the pain of being separated from her child. “But I am glad to know you can now even have a romantic relationship and stay in control of your powers.” 

“Yes, well it is kind of hard actually; I had never been close like that to anyone before.” 

“He must be a kind man… Right?” 

Raven just nodded into her soup. 

“Oh Azar… you are like me, you like the bad boys, don’t you?” 

“It’s not that. I don’t like bad boys… actually I don’t like boys.” 

Realization finally struck Arella. She turned to look at her daughter. The controlled and cool Raven now looked uncomfortable in her own skin. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about you making me a grandmother too soon?” 

“You ok with that then?” asked Raven. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t know you so well; I thought you might be a little more conservative.” 

“Conservative!? Raven I used to be a demon worshipper. I do not get scandalized easily. I think I can handle your choice of partner.” answered Arella as a matter of fact. 

“Right…” Raven was seeing her mother under a new light; she was being very open for the first time. “I guess I never really asked about your life before coming here.” 

“If you must know, I used to be known as Angela… the irony of it since I was no angel. Like you, I did not grow knowing the warmth of loving parents, and ended up in the streets of Gotham.”

“Sounds harsh.” 

“Yes, but now my life is very different. I became a pacifist.” 

They smiled at each other and finished their meal quietly. The Titan offered to do the dishes and as they were finishing cleaning up Raven turned to look at Arella again. 

“I never imagined having this conversation with you…” 

“Never did I my sweet child. But I am glad we did.” 

“Thank you for the meal, but is getting late, I should go.” 

“Very well, will you come tomorrow?” asked her mother hopefully. 

“Yes, I’ll be here.” then looked at the picture in her hand. “Here…” 

“You can keep it… we’ll take another one on your 20th birthday when you make your own wish.”

“Thank you… mother.” 

With that Raven stood up, picked up her clothes and headed back to Titan’s Tower. As she left the cottage, she felt Love rejoice inside of her as she hanged some white dove wind chimes in her little place in Nevermore. 

...

_ To be continued…  _


	4. Bittersweet

“Dude, what am I supposed to tell everyone? That Raven is going to ditch her party to smooch with her vampire girlfriend?” 

It was a quiet day for the Titans. Everyone was in the common room except for Raven; Robin and Cyborg were racing each other in the gamestation, while Starfire cooked some of her strange alien food. Everyone was having a good time, except for Changeling, who had drawn the short straw and was now in charge of calling everyone to cancel Raven’s birthday party as she had requested. 

“I don’t think that’s necessary BB… maybe you can just tell them Raven is not in the mood to party. They know her, so they’ll understand.” 

“Dude, everyone was looking forward to this day, it’s going to be such a bummer.” 

“Just do it. Raven doesn’t want a party. She’ll be with her girlfriend.” Dick’s tone of I’m not taking no for an answer left the youngest of the team with no choice. 

“I think we should just tell Mika about the party” jumped in Starfire, eager to celebrate that day as well. 

“Yeah, maybe she’ll like to join the celebration and then take her someplace else afterwards, it’s not like they go to sleep early anyway.” Cy sided up with his teammates. 

“Alright.” their leader finally gave in. “We’ll see if Mika wants to side with us for Raven’s party. But how are we going to contact her? We don’t have her number and she has not stopped by the Tower lately.” 

At that moment the doors slid open and the vampire walked in.

“Speaking of the devil.” said Nightwing. “How the hell did you enter without a key?” 

“Good to see you too Dick; I’m doing well, thanks for asking.”

“You did not answer my question.” 

“Cy programmed the door to recognize my digital prints so I would not accidentally trigger your security system on my late night visits.”

Richard turned to look at Cyborg and he nodded in agreement. 

“Fine, next time just let me know beforehand, I wouldn’t want anyone dangerous walking in the Tower unannounced.” 

Mika was ready for a comeback of her own when Gar interrupted their little dispute. 

“Alright guys, we know you two love each other, but let’s please not lose focus on the important things!” the green teen was not willing to risk a big party at Titan’s Tower for a stupid rivalry between those two “Mika, we want to know what you are planning for this Friday?” 

“This Friday? I don’t know, I don’t usually think so far into the future…” 

“Dude how can you have no plans yet? Raven is going to be so disappointed!” 

“Disappointed? Why? What’s so special about this Friday?” the vampire was confused. 

“Do you have short memory span? It’s Raven’s birthday!” yelped Garfield. 

“Raven’s Birthday!? I didn’t know this Friday it’s her birthday! Why nobody told me before? That leaves me only a few days to plan her present.” 

“You didn’t know? Raven told us not to throw a party for her because she was going out with you!” 

“Actually… she didn’t say that.” Cyborg thought about it. “She just said she was not going to be around that day, and we assumed she would be with you.” 

“She never told me when her birthday was and I never got around to asking her. The topic of age is still a sensitive issue between us. ” explained Mika. 

“Well, maybe she wanted you to find out on your own and plan something romantic for her as a surprise?” commented Starfire trying to justify her friend’s behavior. 

“That doesn’t make sense Starfire… Besides; she’s been keeping me away from here for some reason. I haven’t really seen her this week. She told me she’s being very busy.” 

“That is strange. We haven’t had any bad guy activity lately. Maybe she just doesn’t want to celebrate her birthday and is trying to make everyone ignore it.” said Richard, worried that they might be disturbing their reclusive friend by trying to impose her a big party. 

“Maybe she is worried of ageing since you do not age.” added Starfire looking at Mika.

“That would be so Twilight! …please don’t tell her I said that.” 

“If she’s been keeping you away, what are you doing here right now?” asked Nightwing. 

“I came to give her a surprise. I miss her; I wanted to see if we could smooch a little, maybe sneak in a little quickie before she went off to fight crime.” 

“Do you have to be so shameless?” asked Richard in an accusing tone.

“Do I make you uncomfortable with my comments? Because that’s not nearly as blunt as I can be.” 

“Would you two please stop fighting? Friend Raven is acting strange, even for Raven.” commented the Tamaranean worriedly.

“I’ll go to her room, pump her for information.” said Mika as she left the common room. 

“Make sure that’s all you pump her for!” yelled Richard after her. 

“Now who’s being graphic Boy Blunder!”

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Raven meditated in front of the lake outside of Arella’s cottage. She liked it there, with the cool breeze caressing her skin and the soothing coo of the white doves that visited the place. Tomorrow began her training at Azar’s Temple in preparation for her Zarathian Passage and she had to be in her best control of her emotions. The Titan opened her eyes as she felt her mother approach her from behind. 

“I am sorry to disturb you.” 

“That's ok, it’s getting late. I should get going.” said the empath as she stood up. 

“Will you bring your friends to your celebration?” 

“I haven’t told them anything yet.” admitted Rae. 

“You want them to be here during that day?” 

“That would be nice, I guess…” 

Raven looked crestfallen. She had planned that day a lot differently than it was going to happen. It was a bittersweet feeling; even though she was excited about the whole deal, it still made her very nostalgic. Arella sensed where her daughter’s insecurities might come from. 

“You can also bring your girlfriend, you know. Azarathians are not homophobic.” 

“I don’t think she’ll be coming.” 

“Already breaking your heart then?” ventured Arella. 

“It’s not that. Is not that she wouldn’t want to come. Is that she can’t come.” 

“Why?” 

“The sun never sets on Azarath… and she is more of a creature of the dark.” explained Raven. 

“What do you mean?” asked her mother confused. 

“Mika is a vampire.” 

Arella was a little surprised by Raven’s confession, and she was a little worried as well. “So you like the bad girls?” 

“She’s not bad… she’s kind of like me. She has this darkness inside, but tries to make up for it. She’s even a vegetarian! Sort of...” 

“A vegetarian vampire? Well, I’m sorry I won’t be able to meet her. That would have been interesting.” Arella relaxed a little at her words. “What does she think of not been able to come to your rite of passage?”

“I have not told her either… But I’ll call her as soon as I get back to the Tower.” Raven took from her belt two bottles with different powders which she used to create a circle to go back home. “I’ll come tomorrow morning, probably with all my friends.” 

“I’ll be waiting.” 

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“She’s not in her room! And I found this!” the vampire flashed a post it in front of their faces which Cyborg took from her hand. 

“Remind Dick it is his turn doing the laundry. Buy herbal tea. Have lunch with Arella… Who is Arella?” asked Cy as he read the post it. 

“I have no idea! Isn’t Arella this goth Australian chick with superpowers? I think she’s soooo gay!” 

“That is Argent, not Arella.” corrected Starfire. 

“Then she is out with some chick no one knows about?!” Mika was totally freaking out. “You don’t think she’s cheating on me, do you?” 

“Raven would never do the cheating!” defended Starfire, indignant that she would even suggest such a thing. 

“Then why didn’t she tell me about her birthday?” whined the vampire in a totally depressive tone. 

“I didn’t tell you about my birthday so you wouldn’t go overboard about it.” interrupted Raven in her monotone voice as she entered the common room. 

“Raven where were you?” asked Changeling. 

“I was in my room.” 

“Don’t lie, I was just there looking for you. You were gone and I found this!” yelped Mika still a little crazy showing her the post-it that had been on her laptop. “Who is Arella!?” 

“You went into my room on your own and snooped into my things? You and I are going to have to talk about personal space boundaries in our relationship.” 

“Don’t change the subject! Who is Arella?” 

“Mika, you are making a jealous scene in front of my friends.” chided Raven embarrassed. 

“Everyone is thinking the same as I am anyway. You are acting weird and running off with a strange woman!” 

“I’m not cheating on you, idiot!” Raven began losing her patience. “Arella is my mother.” 

“Oh…” everyone looked taken aback by it. Raven had never talked about her mother before. “You went to see your mother?” 

“Yes, I was at my birthplace, Azarath, visiting my mother. Are you going to freak out about that?” 

“Oh… I just made an ass out of myself, didn’t I?” asked Mika timidly. “Sorry.” 

“Friend Raven what have you been doing in Azarath. Is it not in another dimension?” wondered Starfire, curious as to why she went there. Unlike Starfire, Raven had never mentioned ever gotten homesick. 

“Guess it’s time to tell you guys about it.” said the empath as she urged everyone to take a seat in the half moon couch. “As you all know, my 20th birthday is approaching.” 

“Yeah, thanks for telling me by the way.” Raven rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s snide comment. She could be so immature sometimes. 

“As I was saying, it’s my 20th birthday and it means it's time for my Zarathian Passage, like a coming of age celebration in Azarath. My mother wrote to me a few days back urging me to go back home to prepare for it. It is a big deal for my people, so I have to be in Azarath that day.” 

“That’s why you said you would not be around?” wondered Richard. 

“I didn’t know at that moment. But it all worked out that way anyway.” 

“So we are not going to be seeing you that day at all?” asked Garfield a little disappointed. 

“Well, my mother said the Titans are invited to the ceremony.” replied the empath. 

“Awesome!” everyone’s faces lit up at the idea of going to Raven’s home to celebrate her birthday. They knew a lot of her demonic heritage, but very little about her mother and the culture she grew up in. 

“What about me? Did your mother invite me too?” asked her girlfriend hopefully “You did tell your mother about me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, she does know about you… and she did mention wanting to meet you, but I’m not sure if that could be possible…” trailed off the dark titan. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Azarath is not a place suitable for creatures of darkness, the passage for that dimension has a shield that protects it from evil and…” 

“You think I’m evil!?” 

“Mika let me finish…” Raven had never imagined her ever confident girlfriend could get so insecure all of a sudden. “I don’t think you are evil. I just think that maybe you are a little bit like me, and in essence you are considered an evil being, even if you don’t act on your impulses.”

“So you are saying you don’t believe I might be able to go through the seal… and that everyone else will.” 

“I don’t know, maybe. Look I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but even I have trouble getting in and I was born there; I practically have to push myself in. So I don’t know if the seal will allow you entrance… but even if you did pass through, I don’t know if it would be a good idea to take you there; Azarath is known as the realm of eternal day.” 

“Oh…” Mika looked extremely depressed now. 

“You say you get blisters and stuff right, maybe massive amounts of sunscreen can make up for it.” tried to help Cyborg, noticing how down the immortal girl was now. 

“No, that won’t help.” 

“Mika what exactly happens to you with sunlight?” asked Changeling with curiosity. All they knew about vampires came from monster movies and many of those things didn’t really apply to her. 

“I’ll burn to ashes…” admitted the vampire deflated. 

“Guess that’s not a myth like the garlic then.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

Everyone remained quiet; they felt kind of bad for her, and were unsure what to say. Raven sensed this and decided to continue to get it over with as fast as she could. 

“I have to be in Azarath tomorrow morning for the preparations of my Zarathian Passage. If you guys want to attend, you’ll have to come with me.” 

“Count us in.” 

“Arella will be expecting us. Pack what you’ll need for the next days. I’ll advise you Vick to take some food of your liking; Azarathians are mostly vegetarian, so don’t expect any meat... You are going to like my mother’s cooking Gar.” 

“Sweet!” 

As the Titans began chattering what they were going to take for their interdimensional trip, Raven took Mika’s hand and dragged her to her bedroom. 

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“We’ll do something nice when I get back, ok? I’ll even let you plan something ridiculously romantic and expensive for me if you want.” offered Raven. She had taken Mika to her room and were both now lying in bed looking at each other. 

“What if I’m still sad and I don’t feel like planning anything stupidly expensive and romantic for you?”

“Then I’ll do the planning… just don’t expect anything expensive. Superheroes don’t really have a big paycheck.” 

“Ok. Sounds good.” said the vamp not very convinced of her own words. 

“Are we alright then?” 

“Yes, I understand why I can’t go. It has nothing to do with us. I’ll wait for you here.” answered the vampire still disheartened. 

They remained in silence for a couple of minutes, just lying there on the bed. Even though Raven liked silence, this tension between them was making her very uncomfortable. 

“Mika I am an empath; even though I don’t feel your emotions with much strength, you are drowning me in your sorrow. Just tell me what is wrong.” 

“Nothing, it’s just that… have you ever wished to just be normal?” 

“All the time.” admitted the Titan. 

“You know, when the comic books about superheroes became popular in the 70s, I always toyed with the idea of having a secret identity. You know, being this mysterious creature of the night that tries to balance an alternate normal life full of teenage drama. But for me there is no normal life, there is just this. There is no college student with a secret identity that fights crime at night to atone for the mistakes of the past. There is no mastermind super villain that plots for world dominance. There is just this, a night predator that remains immune to the passage of time; a mere spectator of life.” 

It was the first time Raven ever heard Mika refer to herself as an immortal, dark being, and the burden it had to be. She had never mentioned how old she was, but now she knew she had lived for at least 4 decades as a vampire. The Titan was going to be turning 20 soon, which was really no big deal, but what would happen to them when the difference became wider? Would she really be able to live by her side knowing all the things she did during daylight that her girlfriend could not participate in? 

“Mika, how old are you?” 

“I am 19… I will forever be 19.” 

Raven snuggled Mika into her arms. She was feeling as confused about their relationship as her girlfriend was probably feeling, yet she tried to comfort her as best as she could. 

“I can help heal your pain… but you would have to let me into your mind.” 

“Thanks, but there are places in my mind no one should go to; not even me.” replied the vampire. 

“I can relate to that… tell you what, I’ll leave you an assignment for when I come back.” 

“What kind of assignment?” wondered Mika. 

“I want you to imagine what it would be like to have this secret identity, to be a superhero of your own, and what your everyday life would be like.” 

“I’m not much of a hero type.” 

“Well then a super villain, whatever suits you better. It’s only for fun. And when I come back, we can do a little role playing…”

“Raven! I didn’t know you could be that kinky! Where did that come from?”

“Well, you get all turned on when we make out and I am wearing my battle uniform. So I thought maybe we could switch roles; have you being the hero and me the thief that you capture or whatever. I don’t know, we’ll think of something. I just want to give you something to look up to for when I return.” 

“This is a side of you I had never seen.” 

“Sometimes my demon side gets some good ideas.” answered the goth hero with a smirk as she sensed her girlfriend’s mood cheer up. 

“I’ll like to see that side more often then.” 

“No, you don’t.” added Raven playfully. 

They smiled at each other lovingly and kissed tenderly for a few minutes. Then Mika wasted no time in positioning herself on top of Raven and pinning her against the bed as she kissed her neck. Raven loved it when Mika nibbled on her neck. The vampire thing made it all sexier.

The empath marveled at how fast her girlfriend was able to turn her on. Sexuality had never been a big part of her psyche, but now every night spent with her was filled with uncontainable passion. So she quickly threw away her cloak, and removed her girlfriend’s jacket. Mika smiled and grabbed her leotard and ripped it away. The empath suddenly found herself naked under her girlfriend.

“That was my battle suit!” protested the Titan. 

“Consider it payback for all the shirts you have ruined.” answered the vampire running her hands up and down her naked chest. 

Raven was dripping wet so she used her powers to remove Mika’s remaining clothes. The empath smiled mischievously as she now had a naked vampire straddling her privates.

“Someone is as eager as me.” 

“Yes, but just be silent. Although they are still in the living room, half the people in this tower have super hearing.” 

Mika made a sealed-lips sign and began rocking back and forth, rubbing Raven’s clitoris with her pelvis and getting small shivers from her. Raven knew what was coming; the vampire enjoyed making her come several times during the night and this was just the warming up. So she opened her drawer and levitated a small wooden box to her hands. She took out the necklace Mika had given her as a present to contain her powers, and quickly placed it on her neck. 

The vampire smiled and she increased the speed of her movement. Raven’s breath came in short gasps and her muscles tensed. Liquid pleasure ran from her center wetting the bed. And as the shivers of the first orgasm subsided she knew they would be up for a fun night. 

…

_To be continued..._


	5. To Be or Not to Be

The next day the Titans arrived early to Azarath. Arella was waiting for them and gave them a warm welcome. Starfire was ecstatic to see the resemblance between mother and daughter, and all were delighted to see that the place Raven had been born in was not the gloomy, dark place they had imagined. 

Raven was surprised that her mother had prepared for them, not a traditional Azarathian breakfast, but waffles. If there was something Raven could not resist, were homemade waffles. 

After breakfast, Arella gave them all robes, so they could mingle better in their visit to the city. She had made them herself and chose the same color of their uniforms, except for Nightwing’s, whose robe had the same colors of his old Robin suit. After they all changed and Raven put on a white robe, they headed for Azar’s Temple on the main island. 

The Titans were impressed by the magnificence of the place. Tall buildings of golden colors and wide gardens filled with different flowers adorned the clean city landscape. White doves soared the skies and smiling people went on their daily lives. 

“Wow, this is amazing.” 

“Dude, if this place is so shiny and happy, why are you always so dark and gloomy?” asked Gar. 

Raven just shrugged her shoulders and they began walking down the main street towards their destination. Main Street was very crowded, just as Raven remembered it to be, it housed many stores so people were coming and going all the time doing business. Azarathians did not use money, so the exchange of goods usually took place there. On their way she noticed that people in the street turned to look at her and then began whispering amongst them. She was used to that, everyone knew she was the daughter of a demon, regardless of the color of robes she wore. 

Then a little tyke came running towards them and stumbled with Raven, falling to the ground on the process. Without a second thought, Raven picked him up as his mother approached running after him. 

“Here… you should take better care of him, the street is very busy at this hour and he might get hurt.” said Raven nonchalantly. 

“Thank you.” appreciated the mother holding her youngster and looking at the Titan’s with wide open eyes. “It is really you…” 

“Am sorry?” 

“You are already here! All of you!” she said as she raised her voice. 

Everyone in the street closer to them began surrounding the group of teenage heroes. At first they were a little confused, believing maybe they had done something wrong, but then they realized everyone was approaching to try and shake their hands or pat them in the back. 

“May Azar bless you!” 

“It is an honor to be in your presence.” 

“The heroes are here! They have come to the celebration!”

“Uhm guys, what is going on?” asked the changeling. 

“I think they recognized us as the Titans.” explained their leader as he was presented with various gifts which he tried to refuse graciously. 

Starfire was thrilled by all the attention, they had been praised before as heroes, but never had she felt so much love from the people before.They adorned them with flowers and colorful necklaces making the Tamaranean beam in glee. Cyborg was also excited; many food stands were inviting him to try their food and he couldn’t resist to be treated like a king. As soon as the original shock passed, Gar also enjoyed all the attention from the girls and was now transforming into different animals at request. Raven was the most startled of them; mothers began approaching to try and make her hold their children to bless them, just like she had hold the toddler that stumbled with her. 

“Raven, I did not know the entire city was expecting our arrival.” said Nightwing with surprise. 

“Arella said something like that to me. But I didn’t expect this. I was never really the most popular last time I was here.” 

“Things change my child.” Everyone around them stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the new comer. Men, women and children all bowed to the tall woman in front of them. Azar, the ruler of Azarath had approached them with a party of monks behind her. 

“Azar, blessed be.” said Raven as she bowed. Seeing this, all the Titans bowed as well. 

“Welcome to Azarath young heroes. Please, follow me. We were expecting your arrival at the temple.” 

The Titans were escorted to the main temple at the heart of the city, amongst the cheers of the people. As they got to the temple her 4 friends were taken to a different part to be shown Azarathian’s culture and lifestyle, while Raven followed her old mentor Azar to a ceremonial chamber inside the main building. She was to prepare for the ritual with her. 

“Has your mother explained to you the nature of the Zarathian Passage?” questioned her mentor. 

“Well, Arella said it is a ritual to embrace oneself as a new adult and leave behind childhood fears. We already made my ceremonial robes, and prepared an offering for me to bring to the temple. I don’t know what else I should know.” 

“My child, the ritual is not just symbolic in nature, as in human cultures. It is spiritual and magical as well. In your case, the ritual will suppress definitely your… dark side… and bind you spirit self to Azarath. You will have a vision of your future, and the place you will take in our society.” 

“Wait… does that mean I will have to stay here? Won’t I be able to go back home, to Earth?” asked Raven somewhat scandalized. 

“Dear Raven this is your home, your real home. But if you wish you will be able to go back to Earth, the ritual will not take away your free will.” 

“But it will take away my powers…” corrected the empath. 

“It will take away your demonic side… which is the source of your powers, so yes.” 

“That’s a big change! A huge thing for you to just now throw at me!” 

“You don’t have to be scared.” said Azar patiently. “Come. I’ll show you.” 

Raven was taken to the edge of a pond that was right in the middle of the chamber. The water in it was of a deep blue color and it housed two big fish, a white and a black one. 

“This is the pond of Destiny. Sit here in front of the pond and allow the spirits that live in it to guide you on a spiritual journey. They will show you your life after the ritual.” 

Raven hesitated a little but did as instructed. Azar looked at her with patience and love in her golden eyes, so she could not refuse her petition. As she sat down, her attention was immediately caught by the beautiful dance of the two fish in the pond. They danced around each other making a perfect ying yang with their movements. The empath soon fell in a deep trance, and as her body relaxed with every passing minute, she was taken on a journey to the future that might be. 

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Mikaela the vampire woke before the sun went down to find herself alone in Raven’s room. She hated to admit that her cool bravado had gone out the window and she was really depressed. The worst thing was not the fact of not going to be at her girlfriend’s birthday party; it was that everyone else was. 

“She might be all dark and gloom, but she still lives in the world of sunlight… unlike me.” 

The ageless teen looked around the room and decided to take advantage of the opportunity and explore Raven’s life a little more. She went through some of her books, but many were in a strange language. She decided to peek on her laptop, but it was password protected so she closed it back. Then she opened the drawers and found various pictures. In the photographs she was with her friends at the beach, or at a park, or at the pizza place; all under the blazing sun. 

One picture caught her attention though, it was the team all wearing Richard’s old Robin uniform. They looked much younger and like they were having a lot of fun cosplaying as their leader. Something was scribbled on the back of the picture:  _ Who would have thought the mask makes you feel really cool _ .

“Feel cool? In Dick’s old traffic light suit?”

She looked at the picture one more time before putting it back on the drawer, deep in thought. 

“Although come to think about it, even though he has a stick up his ass most of the time, he has all the coolest toys…” 

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Raven was sitting on a bench in one of the gardens of the temple. She knew it was late, but it was always bright outside. As bright as the vision she had seen moments ago. Azar had explained it was a possible future, for future could be changed by one simple decision, so it was not written in stone. But if she really desired it, that’s the future she could live. 

“Friend Raven, shouldn’t you be resting? Are you not tired from all your training?” said Starfire as she approached her friend. 

“I didn’t feel like sleeping just yet.” 

“Is there something bothering you? You look… gloomier than usual.” 

“Kori can you keep a secret?” asked the empath to her friend. 

“Of course! You are my best of friends. What is it that you wish to confide in me?” assured the Tamaranean. 

“I just found out what this whole passage thing is about. It is supposed to suppress definitely my demonic side… forever.”

“Is that not a wonderful news Raven? Should you not be happy?” asked the alien confused. 

“Maybe… I don’t know Star. If my demon side is suppressed my powers would be gone. Do you understand what that means?” 

“It means you could no longer be a Titan…” answered Starfire finally realizing the implications of it. 

“Yes.” 

“What would you do then?” 

“Azar is offering me to stay here, and become a spiritual guide for my people. She wants me to be her successor. She says I am the best candidate to guide my people in our pacifistic way of life, since I know what it is like to live in a world of fear.” said Raven referring to her life in Earth and all the hardships of her profession to ensure a safe place for everyone. “I was actually shown what that would be like, she took me to a special place to see a glimpse of the possible future I would have as ruler of Azarath. It is a great opportunity for me, to take on a new identity not as the daughter of a demon, but as a spiritual guide. I’ll be able to do great things and return home to my people.” 

“If it is as great as you say, why is it then that you sound so sad?” asked Starfire understanding what her predicament might be. 

“Cause it means leaving everything behind, leaving my life in earth, my career as a superhero, you guys that have become my family, my vampire girlfriend… it’s just too much to take. Star, I don’t know what I should do.” 

“When I was faced with the same dilemma, a wise man once told me to follow my heart.” said the Tamaranean remembering the time she was called to rule over her planet. 

“What if I am not sure what my heart wants?” wondered Raven. 

“When the time comes you will know.” 

Raven sighed as her friend placed an arm around her shoulders for moral support. She knew the goth was not too fond of hugs, but could use one right now. 

“I wonder what Mika is doing right now…”

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The sun had set on Jump City. The streets were still busy of people getting out of their jobs and heading into their homes. It was rush hour, and everyone was a little crazy at the wheel; but when they heard the loud motor sound of the Nightcycle approach everyone moved out of the way. Nightwing was not only a hero; he was a legend in the city. What nobody knew as they made room for him to pass was that it was not Nightwing behind the wheel this time…

“Wooooohooooooo!!!!!!”

Mika yelled into the night as she raced through the streets dressed up as Nightwing. As soon as the sun had gone down, she had sneaked into his room and grabbed his stuff, they were mostly the same height, although she had to improvise to cover her boobs and broaden her shoulders. 

“Who would have thought? The mask does make me feel very cool!” 

…

_ To be continued… _


	6. Darkness in Me

“Arella why didn’t you tell me what the ritual would do to me?” asked Raven feeling betrayed by the lack of information. They were both at the cottage; Arella had been playing the piano when Raven arrived early in the morning. 

“Because I didn’t know.” defended Arella. “I never had a Zarathian Passage... although that explains why everyone else is so calm. All this time I thought it was just me been too damaged to achieve that zen state.” 

“Wait, why didn’t you get a Zarathian Passage?” asked her daughter confused. 

“I was not born here. Like you Raven, I’ve never been completely a part of Azarath. Why do you think I live away from the city?” 

“So they didn’t let you have one?” 

“No… I refused to have it.” 

“Why?” inquired the empath even more confused now. 

“Everyone would have attended. Everyone… except the only person that I really cared about… you.” explained Arella to her daughter that looked at her with lots of questions in her eyes. “You were only 3 years old, and you were unable to contain your powers at that time. You were a danger to everyone, including yourself. So they had you isolated with only Azar and a few monks to keep you company. How could I have celebrated surrounded by so many people knowing that? How could I become a part of society, when you were alone and away from everyone and me?” 

“That’s why you insisted me so much that I invite everyone to my ritual.” said Raven more as a statement than a question. 

“It is a cheerful celebration. You should be surrounded by friends and family. And you should also be praised as a hero, for all you have achieved… as a mother that’s all I ever wished for you.” 

“Mother, I am very confused right now. I don’t know if I should go through with it at all.” 

Arella approached Raven and lifted her chin up. “As a mother, I would love to have my child back home. But whatever you choose, you will always have my love and support. Do what makes you happy.”

Raven breathed deeply, trying to calm her ravaged emotions. She needed answers before it was too late to back off. 

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The dark Titan sat in front of the Pond of Destiny. She had requested permission to see once again into her possible future. Raven just sat there for a few minutes contemplating her surroundings; the chamber was illuminated by torches and adorned with golden artifacts. She meditated for a few minutes before finally taking courage to dive into the future she wished to see. 

“This time I want to know what my future would be like if I go back to Earth… as a human.” 

As she watched the two fish dance in the water she felt her consciousness fall deep into slumber. It was similar as when her soul self left her body, just with more intensity. She heard the voices of her emoticlones in her head fade away slowly until only silence remained.

\--

Suddenly she woke up startled, to realize she was in Titan’s Tower, in her bed. The sun was shining through her window. Everything was unusually quiet as she stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash her face. She was a startled by the image reflected back from the mirror; her skin was a creamy white like her mother’s, instead of the pale gray she was accustomed to. As she stared into her own eyes she noticed what else was different; there were no more voices inside her head. For the first time, everything was quiet. 

Raven walked to the common room and was greeted by her friends as usual. They all had breakfast together and watched the mandatory dispute of ham over tofu. 

“Ready for your first day of training Rachel?” said Nightwing looking at her with a smile. “You already have a lot of battle experience, so it will only be a matter of time before you get used to the new you.” 

“Thanks for doing this for me Dick. I was tired of just sitting around the tower waiting for you guys to come home.” said Raven, unsure of where that came from. Just like last time she had been in her spiritual journey, she had no control over what was going on, although she could see, hear, smell and feel everything around her, as if she was really there. 

They began training in hand to hand combat, and just as he had said she had a lot of combat experience and managed to keep the pace. But she was tiring very fast, and she didn’t remember blows hurt so much. As the training progressed she ditched the cape, it made her really hot and she had trouble keeping it out of the way. 

An hour later she was sprawled on the training mat soaked in sweat, and everything hurt. Even muscles she didn’t knew she had hurt. Richard helped her to her room and told her they would continue tomorrow. 

\--

As she lied in bed she felt the passage of time and all of a sudden several weeks had passed. It was dark outside and she heard a knock on her door. No longer could she sense who was behind it, so she stood up to open it. She saw her girlfriend standing in the doorway with a single violet rose in her hands. 

“Ready to go Luv?” 

They went to the movies that night, and as they walked out of the cinema, they saw a thief snatch a woman’s purse and run away. 

“Hey stop!” Raven yelled after him, and then began chasing, leaving Mika behind. She followed him down an alley and jumped a wired fence. She could feel her muscles ache from the strain, but she was intent on capturing him. All the training had to pay off. Then she turned around a corner and stumbled upon the thief and his gang. She was outnumbered 4 to 1. She had faced bigger treats, so she didn’t mind that and launched herself against them. 

At first, it looked like she would be able to deal with them. But she had learned to depend so much on her empathic powers that she didn't notice when two more goons appeared behind her. After that she was easily overpowered as they grabbed her arms and made her bend on her knees. 

“You should leave the heroics to the pros little girl?” mocked one of her opponents. 

“Leave her alone…”said a voice behind the gang leader. 

When they turned around they found Mika; her eyes glowing red and fangs protruding from her mouth. At her feet stood one of the thieves totally knocked out. The other gang members released Raven and attacked the vampire, but she easily took them down and knocked them unconscious. The battle didn’t last long. 

The vampire helped Raven up, and took her in silence back to her apartment to treat several bruises she had.

“Why do you do that? Why do you keep trying? You are no longer a superhero.” 

“That’s all I know how to do…” whispered back the heartbroken girl. 

“You could try something else Luv. Maybe go to college. Get a job, we’ll think of something…”

“We?” 

“Yeah… come live with me. You no longer fit at Titans Tower.” 

Raven looked at her girlfriend for a long time, before closing the distance between them and kissing her deeply. Mika lifted her in her arms and carried her to the bedroom. They kissed each other lovingly at first, but then Raven desired more and began ripping away her girlfriend’s clothes, as she tried to find comfort in their love making. After spending her energy and frustration, Raven fell asleep in her dead girlfriend’s arms. 

\--

When she woke up she was inside the university auditorium. She had dozed off in class and wondered why she had chosen criminal psychology of all courses. She knew a lot more about criminal minds than any of her so called professors. 

Finally the class ended and she headed for the cafeteria. As always she sat alone, she was after all the odd goth chick in campus. As she ate, the cafeteria TV showed live footage of a battle between the Titans and a new threat in town. They were battling a demon of some sorts that threw fireballs. It reminded her of Slade when he was working for her father. Changeling was down, he took a heavy blow and now the Titans were beginning to fall back. Raven could not ignore her heart any longer. She stood up and threw away her lunch and headed for battle. 

\--

Next time Rachel woke up she was in a hospital bed. Everything hurt… again. She had a cast on both of her arms and was breathing through an oxygen mask. She barely managed to turn her head and saw Mika next to her, staring at her intently, pain evident in her eyes. 

“Rachel… if you want to feel strong and powerful so badly, I can help you.” Raven looked at Mika with pleading eyes. “If you want to die, let it be by my side…” the ex-hero’s eyes filled with tears and she finally nodded. 

\--

She drifted off to sleep again and next she knew she was in a cabin, and by what she could see out the window, in the middle of the woods. She turned her head and saw Mika tying up two unconscious men to a chair. 

“Rae, you woke up.” said Mika approaching her, then saw Raven look with apprehension at the two men. “Don’t worry about them, they are criminals, I got them for you.” 

She didn’t really get the meaning of her words, and her girlfriend just picked her up from the couch and took her to the bedroom. Her arms were still in casts and her body hurt from been picked up. Mika noticed her discomfort. 

“Don’t worry Luv… the pain will go away soon enough.” She placed her on the bed and kissed her sweetly. “I wished we had more time, but your friends are looking for you, so we have to be fast.” 

Then her eyes became red and her fangs elongated. She closed the distance between her and Raven, and that’s when she realized what was going on. Fear crawled up her spine, but when the vampire finally bit her and she felt life abandon her body she surrendered completely. 

Everything turned black. It was comforting; she was used to darkness so she didn’t mind. But then, drops of red tainted her vision until red was all she could see. She felt this uncontainable hunger eating at her soul. Desperation invaded her, and when her vision finally cleared, a pair of lifeless eyes, stared back at her. She was standing over two dead men; blood smeared her hands and her clothes. And as she took her hand to her mouth she could feel two vicious fangs and the coppery taste of blood… 

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Mika stopped to rest. As soon as she hit the street, the Titan signal installed in the Nightcycle began alerting her of trouble. She had decided to give it a try considering the real Titans were out of town. So far, she had stopped a robbery to a convenient store, saved 2 kittens, and rescued a drowning man at the pier. Then the trouble signal began beeping again. 

“What’s wrong with this town? Can’t anybody deal with their shit on their own for 1 night? If it is another kid calling the Titans to save a kitten in a tree I’ll have a meltdown.” 

She turned on the screen as a call was coming in, and saw Chief Mathews. 

“Nightwing! There was a cave in on a mine. The few workers left are trapped inside! Please hurry!” 

Mika nodded and turned on the motorcycle. She headed to the site and as soon as she got there she grabbed a rope and got in to where the miners were trapped. She did not want to stop outside long enough for anyone to notice she was an imposter. 

Once she began her descent she could smell brimstone in the air and worried the place might blow up at any minute. She didn’t really ask what kind of material they were mining for or the cause of the cave in, and was definitely considering turning back when the distinct cries for help came from a few feet away. 

The vampire reached the miners and removed the boulders blocking their path. They began filing out and as the last one passed her she heard more cries coming from inside. 

She pointed her flashlight further and saw a sobbing man sandwiched from the waist down by two big rocks. At first she tried to move one of the rocks to get him out, but the distinct smell of blood caught her attention as soon as she began moving it. Upon closer inspection, she realized the man was on the brink of death; the stones had practically punctured him in the middle and he was probably still alive only because of the pressure the rocks put on his body. As soon as she removed them he would die. 

“Please… help me…” 

“I’m sorry…” Mika wasn’t sure how to break the news to him. “I don’t think I can help you.” 

The face of utter shock crossed his expression. “But why? You always save everyone!”

The vampire tried to formulate a response but drew blank, managing to make the man sob harder. 

“Please I want to see my wife and my children! Please bring them here.” begged the minner gripping hard to what was left of his life. 

Mika knew there was no way that was happening, not only was it dangerous for them, there was probably no time before he finally passed out. His cries echoed in the mine’s walls and dust began falling over their heads. She gulped hard, and tried to contain the raising panic that was threatening to make her bolt and just leave him there. 

The vampire inhaled deeply trying to calm herself, but the stench of blood was overwhelming. Her mouth felt chalky and she could feel the sharpness of her fangs as they elongated. Her beast could sense death, and it was itching to get out...

“Ok, listen. I’m gonna help you, but you have to help me.” whispered Mika making him immediately relax. “Close your eyes, I’ll make your pain go away so you can see your family.” 

He looked back confused, but nodded and did as instructed. Mika removed the mask and inhaled again, this time savoring his scent. Her eyes turned complete crimson and without a warning she bit him in the neck. The man gasped momentarily, but soon grew limp in her arms. She drank to her heart’s content until every last drop of life was drained from his body. 

Mika finally stopped. The miner’s lifeless eyes stared back at her...

She quickly cleaned her face from blood stains as best as she could, and placed the mask back on. The vampire stood there for a few seconds coming to grasps with what she had just done, but the earth shook slightly and it drew her back to the present. 

She finally freed the body from the rocks and quickly wrapped his middle with a nearby jacket someone had left behind; she didn’t want his guts spilling out all over her. The vampire carried him on her shoulder and moved as fast as she could, trying to make as little noise as possible. 

More dust was falling and she could feel the slight tremors of an impending cave in. Fortunately she managed to reach the exit before the mine’s supports finally collapsed. 

She placed the man on the floor at a safe distance and paramedics quickly approached seeing their hero covered in blood. Mikaela quickly backed away and ran from the place. 

The unprompted hero got on the Nightcycle and sped all the way to the Tower. Once there, she ditched the bike and began removing everything as soon as her boots hit the metallic floor of the garage. 

Mika arrived at Raven’s bathroom in only her underwear. She stared at her image in the mirror and frowned at her reflection. Her hair was messy and dirty, and there were visible blood stains on her lips, attesting to the death that now weighted on her shoulders. 

A merciful kill, she repeated over and over, as she scrubbed her hands and face until her skin was red from the punishment. When that wasn’t enough she got in the shower under the steaming hot water. She could still feel the taste of his hot blood on her mouth and shivered at the pleasure she had so long ago denied herself. 

She stood there for a long while, trying to wash away the feeling of doing something monstrous...

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Starfire found Raven sitting again in one of the temple's gardens staring absently into the city. She looked paler than usual and was drenched in sweat. 

"Friend Raven, what is wrong?" 

"Hey Star. I'm fine, just a little shaken." 

"Why?" asked the alien concerned. 

"I went into the chamber of Destiny to see into my future again..." 

"And?" 

"And now I am really sure I'm not going back to Earth without my powers.” groaned the empath grimacing at the images still playing in her mind. “That possibility is discarded.” 

“What did you see?” 

“I saw my life as a normal human. The irony is that all my life I wished to be just a regular teen and right there, actually living it… I hated every moment of it.” admitted Raven with disdain. “I felt so lost I begged my girlfriend to kill me and turn me into a vampire, to feel that I was special again…” 

“Mika turned you into a vampire? That does not sound so bad… you love her, don’t you?” 

“Yes, I love her. And a part of me would love spending eternity with her. But I had no idea what it was like. It really is not that romantic bullshit from the movies.” Starfire looked at her friend urging her to continue her explanation. “I mean, I am used to this feeling of hatred and rage inside of me; I know it’s my demonic side crawling inside every inch of my body. But what I felt as a vampire… It was a different kind of demon; one that craved for blood. I cannot take from my head the insatiable hunger I felt at that moment and what that beast inside of me was capable of doing to quench it.” 

“It must give you a different perspective of Mika, yes?” 

“Yes… I really don’t know how she contains the hunger. With all that self control she’s practically a saint.” Raven sighed. Starfire just looked at her in silence, giving her friend space to order her thoughts. “What I don't know Star, is if I want to go back the same way I came; or to change my life entirely." 

"You still have one more day before your birthday to decide." reminded Star. 

"I like my life the way it is right now..." 

"But..." 

"But getting rid of all this anger, all this rage, all this evil inside of me... The feeling I experimented on my first vision is what I have always wanted. It is all I've ever dreamed of… To be able to live in the realm of eternal light...” 

Starfire was listening carefully to everything Raven said, and when she was done, she just remained by her side in silence, sending her love in her stream of emotions. The empath appreciated it greatly, and she was able to calm down her psyche. But then, the voice of her alien friend broke her out of her meditation. 

“Raven…” 

“Yes?” 

“Did you not say the sun never went down on Azarath?” 

“It doesn’t…” the empath opened her eyes feeling Starfire’s sudden discomfort, and then she understood the meaning of her question. All of a sudden, the sky was turning pitch black, and in only a few minutes the realm of eternal light was immersed in darkness. “What the…” 

“Raven!” Nightwing and the boys came running to where both female Titans were seated. “What is going on? Everyone began running around like crazy.” 

“I don’t know… I don’t know why everything has darkened. Let’s go look for Azar. She must know what is going on.”

They ran to the top of the observatory, where Azar and her acolytes were looking at the sky. It was the tallest building in all Azarath, and the place was buzzing with activity. The acolytes ran around checking astrological charts, and looking into crystal balls. 

“Azar! Blessed one, what is going on?” asked Raven her old mentor. 

“I’m afraid we are in trouble my dear.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The seal protecting our peaceful dimension has broken.” the Titans gasped at her words. Raven had explained that it protected Azarath from evil. 

“How is that possible?” 

“I don’t know.” as Azar answered, one of the acolytes looking at the sky through a telescope suddenly backed away cowering in fear. “What is wrong?” 

“D… d…. demons!”

Everyone turned their eyes back to the sky and could now clearly see what had frightened the young man. First they saw one, and then two, then dozens of scary looking demons began hovering over Azarath. It was an entire army. 

Raven felt a strange tug in her chest, as if the hordes of demons were calling to her.

_ Azarath Metrion Zinthos _

The Titan leader stood by her side, and she knew his mind was already planning the best way to fend off the invasion. Azarath had no army; they were a pacifistic society, so their only chance of survival would be them. But there were just too many demons in comparison; they would not be able to protect everyone in such a short notice. 

“Raven?” 

The empath turned to look at Gar as he was staring wide eyed at her. She could sense his fear, not at the demons, but at her. Raven then noticed a burning sensation in her forehead, so she ran to the nearest mirror. The source of his fear was then evident for her… the mark of Scath blazed on her skin... 

...

_ To be Continued... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes reference to my other fanfic “Darkness in Me” which actually follows the events of this story, which I'll be posting soon.


	7. Two Sides of the Same Coin

Everyone froze, both by the sight of the demonic army, and by the mark of Scath burning on Raven’s forehead. Nightwing was the first one to react and approached his friend, confusion and fear visible on his face. The Titans knew the marks on her skin were a warning. But they never thought they would see them again. 

“Raven, what is going on?”

“I…” 

Raven’s words were cut short by a thundering sound that shook the earth. They all turned towards the source and found to their horror that fireballs were launched towards the city. The first attack had impacted the library, setting it on fire. The darkness that had fallen over Azarath, was now tainted red by the flames. Panic and confusion began to spread rapidly as the demonic army was landing on the city. 

“TITANS GO!” 

The Titans had battled together for years, and needed no more instructions from their leader to know what they had to do. As on cue, everyone spread to cover as much terrain and protect as much people as they could. Cyborg headed towards the burning library, to stop the fire from spreading and look for injured people. Changeling, in pterodactyl form, tackled every demon that tried to approach the site. Nightwing headed the other way, and began to face the first horde of demons that had already landed, while Starfire covered him from the air. Raven for her part knew she had to figure out what was going on. 

“Azar, do you have any idea what this means?” said the Titan pointing at her mark. 

“No my child; but for the sake of Azarath I will urge you to find out. I will gather the monks to try and restore the seal, prevent more demons from entering. I am afraid the safety of our people will rest on the Titans’ shoulders.” 

Raven nodded and launched herself head front towards the source of the massive force of demons. They were a little bigger than the average human, with red skin, bat wings, black tattoos, horns and vicious fangs. They were a frightful sight, but her fears had to be put aside for the sake of Azarath. 

As the Titan ascended, the wind on her face threw back her hood and the mark of Scath burned bright in the dark sky. The demons that had charged to stop her advance froze in their tracks. The dark empath suddenly found herself surrounded by dumbfounded demons. More and more gathered around her, but neither did anything to harm her; they seemed to be waiting for something. Then a thundering roar made its way through the lines of the demonic army. Raven levitated there in midair as she saw the demons make room for the new comer. 

“What is going on!? Why have you wretched creatures stopped?!” hollered what looked like the general. He was huge, twice the size of his minions. And, unlike them, he had 4 gleaming red eyes. Raven stopped breathing; he looked a lot like her father. 

The general demon said nothing, he stood still, assessing Raven. The demons that had landed and were battling the other 4 Titans suddenly stopped their attacks to turn their eyes towards the demonic lord and the half-demoness. The Titans also looked intently at what was going on. Next to the general, a smaller demon approached, he was very human like and levitated to whisper something in his ear. 

“She is the Gem of Trigon…” 

Raven opened her eyes in shock. Her mind was racing now. “Who are you? How do you know me?” 

“My name is Ammon, prince of the demon hordes. It is a surprise, although not totally unexpected to find you here. We knew someone had weakened the seal, I presume it was you, Gem.” said the demon lord with a smirk plastered on his face. 

“My name is Raven.” spitted the Titan, much out of rage as out of fear of being responsible for this invasion. “And this is my home dimension, you are not welcomed here.” 

“Mwahahaha!! We are not welcomed Raven? Is that the way to treat family?” 

“Family?” asked Rae even more confused now. 

The demon smiled wickedly. “Yes… As I said, I am Ammon, prince of the underworld… son of Trigon.” Raven’s eyes grew big out of shock. “I am your eldest brother… What? You thought you were an only child? Now, if you may excuse me, I have a land to conquer.” 

He was about to rise his hand when the other demon stopped him. “Brother, remember family courtesy. She did mention this is her homeland... we are honor bound.” 

Ammon turned to look at the smaller demon and so did Raven. Not only was he more human like, but his skin was gray like hers, and he had black tattoos on his shaved head. 

“Very well Belphegor.” agreed the demon lord. “It seems this is your lucky day little lady; you will have 24 hours more before annihilation. Out of familiar courtesy, I will have the honor of ripping your head off in a duel over sibling supremacy. You will be spared the horror of seeing my army devastate your dimension.” 

“What do you mean? Why would I agree to duel you?” asked the Titan outraged.

“You will agree because it is the only solution, if you don’t the invasion will continue. But if you agree and you win, you will take control of Ammon’s army.” answered the smaller of the two. Ammon’s only response was to laugh hysterically. 

“You say it as if she had any possibilities to win. You have 24 hours… Raven.”

With one last smirk and a wave of his hand, every demon in the sky and on land withdrew towards an empty floating island nearby. As sudden as the attack had begun it stopped. Raven stood there in midair, frozen by what had happened. The only demon that remained by her side was the one that had interceded, the one called Belphegor. 

They looked at each other until he finally spoke. “Guess you have a duel to prepare for sister…” 

“Sister?” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later Belphegor stood in front of the Titans in the main chamber of Azar’s Temple. He looked unfazed by the distrust and aggression coming from the young heroes surrounding him, pointing their respective weapons in his direction. The only one that just stood there looking at him with arms crossed was Raven. 

“Ok, let’s clear things up Belphegor. You are saying Trigon had 7 children, which would make you my half brother.” clarified Raven. 

“That is correct; one child representing every deadly sin: Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, and Pride.”

Raven turned to look at her mother that stood in a corner. As soon as the attacks began Arella had headed for the main temple in search for her children housed there. “Did you know of this mother?” 

“No.” admitted Arella. “But it doesn’t surprise me, either.” 

“Ammon is Avarice.” continued Belphegor with his explanation. “Which is actually the reason why he accepted the duel; he wants to rejoice in claiming the head of the precious Gem of Trigon. He collects trophies. The very sin he represents will be his own demise.” 

“Why did you offer your help to Raven? What are you trying to achieve?” asked Nightwing distrustful. 

“I like to be on the winning side.” answered the demon nonchalantly. 

“How are you so sure I am going to win?” questioned the empath confused. 

“Because you represent Pride, the most powerful and deadliest of all sins. You just cannot lose. You cannot allow yourself that.” he saw Raven flinch at the mention of her sin. “Or at least that’s what I hope, I don’t want to be my brother’s lackey anymore. You will set me free once all this is over.” 

“Why would I do that? You are a demon.” 

“Well, not all demons go around conquering dimensions and gathering hellish armies. Some actually go around playing hero, trying to redeem themselves…” he said pointing at the empath. 

“That’s because I am also human.” 

“Well, then we have much in common, I am half human as well.” 

Everyone stared at him. He did look a lot like Raven, with grayish skin and amethyst eyes. But they still didn’t feel at ease with him. “You expect us to believe you are good just like that?” 

“No… I am not good. I don’t give a shit if Ammon destroys the city, rapes the woman, or slaughters the children…I just don’t give a shit about anything. I am Sloth, I just want to be left alone and do nothing! And you are my best bet to go back to not giving a shit about the world.” 

Raven took her hand to her forehead, she was getting a headache. She felt very confused and scared for reasons she didn’t quite understood. “Alright, let’s imagine I believe you. What now? How are you going to help me?” 

“You have to learn the battle mechanics or else you will be decapitated before you know it. We have… 23 hours to prepare you.” he said as he took out a sand clock and placed it on the floor. 

Raven sighed loudly. “Let’s get to work then.” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on Earth, Mika had finally left the confines of Raven’s room and began roaming around the Tower. She avoided the path she had taken on her way in, not wanting yet to deal with the scattered Nightwing’s costume she had hastily removed. The vampire knew she would eventually had to clean everything if she didn't want the Titans finding out of her late adventure. Although no one would oppose her playing hero, Nightwing would have a stroke knowing she took his stuff for a test drive. 

She had changed into something that fitted her better: black jeans, bicker boots, leather jacket and a t-shirt with the legend: Bad to the Bone.

“This is better; I’m really not cut for hero material.” the vampire stretched in front of the big TV screen, wondering what to do now. “Actually, I’m in the mood for playing naughty.” 

She had been in the Tower plenty of times to know that the big screen could boot up Titan’s mainframe computer. So she decided to log in and surf the internet. She typed in an address and the screen showed a big poker table and the image of different people online. 

“Online gambling… now this is something I’m better suited for.” 

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“Ok, why can’t I hold this stupid thing?” said Raven as she tried to lift a spear on her hands. It was the fifth weapon she tried to pick up to no avail. Demonic weapons were heavier than they looked. Her half brother had said she was entitled to a weapon and had spread a wide range on the floor in one of the patios where they were supposed to train. 

“Demonic weapons are fueled by rage and hatred. If you want to defeat Ammon on his own terrain, you are going to have to unleash your demonic self, little sister.” explained Belphegor. 

“Stop calling me sister. I won’t use a weapon then, I’ve spent years of my life reigning in that part of myself to send it all out the window.” 

“You won’t have much chance of winning then.” the half demon looked mortified. “Of course you could always cheat… I mean, Ammon will probably cheat.” 

“I don’t cheat… I am a superhero.” 

“Right… I forgot I am talking to Pride.” muttered Belphegor under his breath. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Raven was about to lash at him when Nightwing approached and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Raven maybe you should cooperate, I mean we don’t have much choice.” 

The empath just glared at her leader. He had no idea what he was asking of her, so she just stormed out before saying something she might regret later, and headed home. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She flew to her mother’s island, which luckily had received no damage from the initial attack. There she found her mother playing the piano for her two foster siblings. She had just seen them when her mother came looking for them at the temple, but with everything that was going on they hadn’t been formally introduced. 

“Hello Arella.” 

“Raven.” her mother stood up and hugged her. “I know it is not a good time, but there are two little ones that have been dying to meet you.” 

The kids stood up and looked at her with wide open eyes. They were both wearing the traditional temple robes. Neither of the three knew exactly what to say. The girl took a little package from her pockets and handed it to Raven with a slight smile. “It’s for you… Happy Birthday Raven.” 

The empath was startled; she had completely forgotten about her birthday. The time was measured differently in Azarath, for there was no difference between day and night. 

“Thank you Kamile. I think my birthday is actually tomorrow, but who knows, time passes differently here.” Raven smiled fondly at them, they reminded her of her kids back home. Melvin, Timmy and Teethers had won her heart and she cared for them like a mother would. She was suddenly afraid she might not see them again. 

_ How could I have even considered staying here in Azarath!  _ \- yelped Love in her mindscape. 

Her mother noticed her internal turmoil and shushed her children away. “Milo, Kamile, would you give me some time alone with your sister?” 

They nodded and headed to play outside. 

“So… what can I help you with?” 

“Arella, mother… I’m scared.” 

“I know my child.” said Arella calmly. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to be able to defeat Ammon in a duel. I can’t even hold the weapons I was given because I have to release my demonic side for that.”

“Raven you defeated your father; I think you’ll find the way to defeat your older half brother.” 

“Yes, I defeated him, but with the help of my friends. This time I’m all alone, because if I drag them into it, the duel will be forfeited and the hordes of demons will invade Azarath… I know that if we are together we will win… but at what cost? How many lives will be lost in the battle?” Raven was horrified by the idea. 

“Why don’t you release a little of your demon then?” 

“You are kidding right?” asked the empath flabbergasted by her mother’s suggestion. 

“No, I’m not. It is part of who you are.” 

“It’s the part of me I fear. It’s the part of me I hate!” 

“Fear is what fuels negative emotions: hate, rage, envy, greed... The more you fear it, the more you’ll fall to its control.” Arella took her daughter’s hands into her own and looked her in the eyes. “You are an adult now Raven, maybe that’s what this whole rite of passage thing is about, accepting yourself and letting go of childhood fears.” 

The Titan unexpectedly hugged her mother, wishing to find comfort in her embrace; although she knew she was no longer a child, and the only comfort could be found within herself. After a few minutes she released her and went to sit at the edge of the lake, staring out into the horizon. Arella’s piano music resumed and could be heard in the distance. Then she closed her eyes and began meditating, reaching towards her inner mindscape. Reaching Nevermore.

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Raven opened her eyes to find herself in Wisdom’s Library. The place was uncharacteristically untidy; piles of books were scattered around, along with old parchments on top of the tables. She stood up from her lotus position and began looking for the yellow robed emoticlone. 

The Titan walked the long aisles until she heard noise coming from downstairs. Behind a shelf, she found a secret passage that led to a staircase. So she grabbed an oil lamp laying around and descended to the basement of the library. There she found Wisdom scrolling through old parchments.

“Wisdom what are you doing in this creepy place?” 

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m looking for a solution to our newest ordeal.” 

“You’ve been hanging out with Rude, haven’t you?” 

“Sorry… I am a little on edge… There is just so much to do in such little time. I had not noticed that all our knowledge in demonology was in such pathetic conditions.” explained her serious side. 

“Yeah, I can hardly see down here… Wisdom I came to get…”

“Advise… I know. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there is not much I can tell you about our demonic half brother and how to defeat him. I actually think our best source of knowledge in that matter is Belphegor.”

“He's a demon.” 

“My point exactly. I have run a battle simulation in the computer…” 

“You have a computer?” interrupted Raven a little shocked. 

“Yes, I have a computer… please don’t lose focus. Anyway, I installed a program to run different simulations based on our previous spiritual journeys to the future. We have two options, either we play nice and heroic and involve the Titans so we don’t taint ourselves with demonic influence, or we let the red one loose on the demonic general.” 

“What would the possible outcomes be?” asked Raven fearing the answer. 

“Scenario number 1: after an epic battle the Titans win, but not without much collateral damage, meaning the demonic army devastates the city and takes countless lives in the process.” 

“Ok…” 

“Scenario #2: We let Rage take the steering wheel, fully assume demonic form from which we might not come back, but we prevent much bloodshed by playing naughty and cutting Ammon’s head with his very own weapons. Option number 2 present the least amount of human sacrifices… since it only sacrifices our own humanity...” finished her emoticlone avoiding her eyes. 

“Wisdom, both options suck.” 

“I know. That’s why I’m researching…” answered Wisdom nonchalantly. 

“Please hurry… if we don’t find another solution I’m going to have to go for the second option. What worries me is that after I win the battle I might try to harm everyone I saved…” 

“There is still the possibility that might not happen. Since father’s death, Rage is not that bad anymore…”

“Of course you say that, she’s chained in her volcanic realm!” pointed out Raven. 

“No, she’s not.” corrected Wisdom. 

“What?!”

“She got free after father’s death. Pretty much at the time when you got lax in your meditation…” 

“What?!!!” 

“It’s ok. She usually stays in her realm, although sometimes she goes to Brave’s training grounds to let out some steam.” explained Wisdom as a matter of fact. 

“Why haven’t I noticed that?” 

“Guess you have not given her much fuel to materialize, especially as of late that you’ve been all lovey-dovey.” answered the yellow emoticlone rolling her eyes. 

“Guess that makes a some sense.” conceded Raven. 

“You should go talk to her.”

“Rage has never been one to talk much.” 

“You’ll be surprised then. Now go, we don’t have much time to waste.” 

“You have become very bossy.” 

Wisdom just shrugged and resumed her work. So Raven made her way to Rage’s volcanic realm. Much to her surprise she found Rage playing chess with Love. They were in a cave at the foothill of the volcano with torches to light the board on top of a wooden table. It was a strange sight; they looked at perfect ease with each other. 

“Hey Rae Rae!” cheered Love once she noticed her presence. Rage turned to glare at Raven, apparently mad at the intrusion, but after a minute she went back to look at the board in front of her. 

“Love what are you doing here?” 

“I’m keeping Rage company. I like it here, it’s… hot.” she said this last word with a sultry smile at the end. “Besides, we are practically neighbors, she is the closest one I have.” 

“The closest one to you is Rage?” 

“Haven’t you heard that between love and hate there is only one step away?” 

“That’s kind of hard to grasp…” admitted Raven still in shock. “Anyway… I’ve come to talk with you Rage.” 

“That’s a first…” answered the demoness in a raspy voice. “I’m listening.” 

“I need to defeat my brother, and I need you for that.” 

“Sounds like fun. You don’t really have to ask my consent for that.” 

“Yes, I know you would love to go out and cause mayhem. But before I even consider it, I need to be sure that you will not harm my friends once the battle is over.” 

“Raven, we would never hurt them!” jumped in Love. 

“Of course we would never hurt them Love, but Rage is a different matter.” 

“No, Love is right, I would never hurt them… at least not much.” 

“Raven, Rage and I, we are not that different, we both feel with intensity and passion, and we can easily change from one to the other.” explained the purple robed emoticlone to Raven’s surprise “The combination of us both is what creates other emotions like Lust, or Jealousy, or even Sorrow. You have been feeling the fine line between us as of late, haven’t you? Mika tends to draw that, that’s why I spend so much time with Rage nowadays.” 

Rage stood up from her chair and approached Raven; she looked her straight with her four gleamy, red eyes and began talking in a serious way. “The reason you are here, trying to tap into your demonic side, is not out of rage, is out of love. So don’t worry, leave brother dear to us.” she then smiled wickedly. 

The empath turned to look at Love which was smiling behind the red emoticlone. They didn’t say more and she didn’t dare ask anything else, so they resumed their game. It was like seeing god playing against the devil. Raven looked at them one last time before leaving the cave deep in thought. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile on Earth, Mika was cleaning everyone at the poker table. She had not lived in Las Vegas for several decades for nothing. Her fun was interrupted though by the sound of the elevator doors opening. She panicked believing the team had returned early and tried to close everything as fast as she could. But then she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her. 

“What’s that? Online Poker?” 

The vampire turned around to see a guy in a suit similar to what Dick used to wear. Behind him were 4 other masked vigilantes. 

“Who the hell are you?” asked Mika facing them. 

“I thought you were Raven! Who the hell are you?” asked Speedy startled. 

“We are Titans East” declared Bumblebee approaching. She eyed Mika from head to toe, stopping at her t-shirt. “Where are the Titans? What have you done to them?” 

“Me?” asked the vamp confused. Then she saw her own t-shirt with the legend of Bad Girl and remembered the bloody mess she left behind when she entered, and everything made sense. “Oh no.” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Titan leader was pacing back and forth in the main chamber of the Temple. The Titans were back inside guarding Belphegor. Azar, their ruler, had retreated with her monks to try and seal Azarath again, and had appointed the young heroes the task of keeping the demon out of trouble. For his part, the demon looked very calm and had just stayed there looking outside the window. 

“She will come back you know…” said the demon to Nightwing. “She is Pride; she will do anything to win.” 

“Yes, she will, but not out of pride. You might be her brother, but we are her family. So don’t pretend to know her!” spitted out the dark vigilante. 

“Moody much, aren’t you?” 

“Tomorrow is her birthday… it was supposed to be a special day…” said Richard sourly. The demon said nothing and just turned to look away with indifference. 

Starfire heard his last comment and approached the hero. She took him by the hand and dragged him away to sit with her at a corner. 

Suddenly the doors opened and Raven walked in. She was wearing the robes she and her mother had made for her Zarathian Passage. They all gasped, she was wearing all white and her leotard had been replaced by a long dress with openings to the sides to show her legs. Her arms were uncovered as well, except for her hands that wore long gloves. She looked really good, but what startled them was that her eyes were shining red. She approached the weapons in the floor and grabbed a long sword which she lifted with ease. 

“So brother, how are we going to defeat that son of a bitch?” 

Belphegor smiled as he approached Raven. “We are going to use some old fashioned intimidation.” 

The demoness smiled back, liking the sound of that. There was no turning back now. 

...

_ To be continued… _


	8. Tainted Red

“You are getting a midriff.” 

“What!? What does that have to do with intimidation?” exclaimed Raven taken aback; she was sitting on a bench in the temple’s courtyard as her half brother prepared an eerie looking tonic in a bowl. The Titans remained on the sidelines giving the siblings some space; they both looked like a menacing pair and decided to stay away in case Raven’s empathy was picking up their uneasiness at seeing her all demony. But they still roamed around in case their friend needed them, and turned to listen to their conversation when they heard Raven’s yelp. 

“Well, for starters I need enough canvas to paint my message so it will be very clear for our dear brother to see.” explained Belphegor. “And secondly, you will look like a hot-sex-bomb demoness that will be sure to raise your amount of followers among Ammon’s ranks.” 

“Ok, explain me again why would I want that?” asked Raven infuriated. 

“Because…” Belphegor began explaining for the third time. “Ammon is very superstitious, he believes in prophesies and is easily scared by cryptic messages. I will paint a sort of prophecy on your skin, like the one that implied you would be the portal for Trigon, so he will lose focus and you’ll have more chances of winning. And while you battle big brother, the Titans will be disguised among the demonic hordes to create commotion and dissidence so the demons start killing each other… and in case you get beheaded we will have a bigger chance of winning.” 

“Thanks for the vow of confidence.” remarked Raven sourly. 

“Anytime.” replied Belphegor ironically. “Anyway I do trust you’ll do fine. The midriff will get you followers, you will probably get many demonic suitors when all this is over; might even find you a suitable dark prince.” 

“I don’t need a dark prince.” 

“Yeah, she already has her dark princess.” jumped in Garfield without thinking about it. 

“Shut up Gar!” said the demoness as she encased her friend in a ball of black energy and threw him on a nearby pond. Seconds later a green duck was seen flying away from it. The other Titans turned to look at each other and decided it was wise to give her a little more space again. 

“Princess? I see… is she a demon?” inquired Belphegor. 

“No, she’s not a demon. Now can we get started with the whole painting of cryptic messages on my skin?” said the empath trying to change the subject. 

“A little too eager… you do know it’s going to hurt and it will be permanent?” 

“You mean I’m going to have demonic tattoos for life? You didn’t say that!” 

“I did mention they were like the marks you got from Trigon.” explained Belphegor. 

“Yeah,but those only glowed in the dark and eventually disappeared.” barked the Titan thinking this might be compromising too much. 

“They disappeared because the prophecy was fulfilled. And these ones will also just glow when your demonic side fuels them, the rest of the time will only be noticeable on close inspection.” 

Raven looked mortified which didn't pass unnoticed by her friends. Dick had been listening carefully to their conversation and walked to stand by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure of this Raven?” he asked “We can face them all as a team you know?”

“Thanks, I do have my doubts, but I believe this is better than putting the Azarathians at risk of suffering collateral damage..." admitted the demoness. Then she turned to look at her brother once more. "Can I at least pick the message?” 

“Sure”

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“I am only going to ask this once… Where are the Titans?” interrogated Bumblebee pointing her weapons at Mika and shooting without warning. The vampire managed to leap away without much effort, but she immediately found herself surrounded by Mas and Menos moving at an extraordinary speed. 

“Well aren’t you the bullies; 5 masked vigilantes against one weaponless girl you don’t even know.” spitted the vampire. 

“We know enough. You are not very smart; you printed it on your shirt.” barked Speedy pointing at her Bad Girl t-shirt. 

“The Robin look alike talks about smart choice in clothing… how cute.” 

“uhhh fue un golpe bajo.” mocked Más and Menos. 

“Ok, you asked for it. Guys she’s all mine!” Speedy drew out his arrows and fired at Mika at a rapid pace. She danced around the living room dogging them with apparent ease; luckily for her, but bad for the living room which soon began to look like a war zone. 

“Why are you even called Speedy? My dead grandma could shoot faster than you!”

“Speedy she is taunting you and you are destroying the Tower, the Titans are going to kill us. Just get serious and get it over with, we don't know how dangerous she might be.” warned his leader. 

“Yes Speedy, listen to mommy, if you break anything you’ll get spanked!” mocked Mika as she leaped behind him and kicked his butt, making him fall on his face on the couch. 

The Guatemalan twins burst out laughing. “¡Está haciendo que parezcas un idiota!” 

“What did they say?” 

“They said you look like an idiot! This is better than I expected, even your teammates make fun of you.” said Mika not trying to hold back her amusement. 

“¡Ella entiende español!” exclaimed the twins as Mika winked at them making them blush a little. Mas and Menos mockery distracted Speedy enough that the vampire managed to grab his arrows and was know holding them over her head away from the teen hero. Speedy got all worked up trying to take them back, and looked like a bullied kid. 

“Not so tough now without your toys, are you? I won’t give them back unless you say: Oh forgive me Mika! I’ll find a new fashion statement, just please let me walk away with some of my dignity!” 

“Mika? Wait you are Mika?” interrupted Bumblebee. 

“The one and only… you know me?” 

“Yeah, Cy told me about you. Guys that’s not a super villain…” 

“Who the hell I’ve been fighting then?!” yelped Speedy outraged. 

“That’s Raven’s girlfriend.” explained their leader. 

“Raven’s girlfriend? What do you mean Raven’s girlfriend?” inquired Aqualad. 

“Girlfriend as in they are dating.” clarified Bumblebee as if she were talking to small children. 

“You mean Raven is a lesbian?!” Speedy exclaimed in shock. “Well that explains why she never agreed to go out with me.” 

“Dude, shut up. You are making us look bad.” chastised Aqualad sternly. 

“Sorry about our little misunderstanding girl… Guess you are Raven’s type after all.” said Bumblebee eyeing her clothes. “Anyway, Cy never told me you were a Metahuman.” 

“Metahuman? Right! Because of the speed and reflexes…” Mika grew a little nervous, and remembered she should be breathing, and blinking, and doing all the little things living beings usually do. 

“Why are Nightwing’s things thrown around in the garage? And covered in blood?” noted Aqualad still eyeing her up and down.

“There was a cave in… I went to help. A guy bled out. I was going to clean that up...” quickly explained the vampire not wanting to get into details, and deciding best to just change the subject “Anyway, what brings Titan’s East to the west?” 

“Gar told us Raven didn’t want a party, but we thought we might still come and leave her a birthday present. Where is everyone by the way?” asked Aqualad. 

“They are not here. They all went to Azarath, Raven’s home dimension, for some passage ritual or something.” explained Mika. 

“Why didn’t you go with them?” wondered Bumblebee 

“I had stuff to do…” 

“Like playing online poker?” commented Speedy pointing at the big screen. Mika faintly smiled, maybe he was not such a big idiot after all. 

“I had my reasons… Anyway we’ll celebrate once they come back. So you can go now.” 

“They left you alone in the Tower?” kept asking Bumblebee, much to Mika’s dismay. She was not fond of talking much to strangers so she just nodded her head. “But what if there’s mayor trouble in the city? Would you alone be able to handle it? Maybe we should stick around till the Titans return.” Mika just shrugged her shoulders giving up. Then the alarm at Titan’s Tower began glaring red light all over warning of trouble again. 

“It’s probably some stupid kid asking the Titans to rescue a kitten… its being like that since the team left.” 

“A kitten? At this hour? I don’t think so.” Aqualad turned on the screen and on it appeared Johnny Rancid causing havoc in the city with his giant mechanical pets. 

“Johnny Rancid!” yelped the vampire, remembering vividly their last encounter when she got shot. 

“You know him?” asked Aqualad. 

“Yeah… I’ve fought hi.” tried to brag Mika puffing out her chest and crossing her arms. 

“Then you are coming with us.” stated the Titan’s East leader. 

“What!?” Mika gasped loudly and quickly tried to excuse herself. “But I’m not really a superhero, that’s why I borrowed Nightwing’s stuff.” 

“You are going to chicken out in a lack of suit?” mocked Speedy. 

“Fine, let’s go.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nightwing moved about the hordes of demons. So far, Belphegor’s concealing spell was holding and he looked like one of the many crimson fiends that had encamped in one of Azarath’s floating islands. He only hoped Raven’s half brother had not set them a trap and that he was not walking to an imminent death; he was a demon after all. Raven seemed to trust him, but still the leader of the Titans had offered to go alone undercover among the demonic ranks, he didn’t want to put any more of his comrades at risk. He felt bad enough about leaving so much on Raven’s shoulders, but he also understood why she was doing it and all he could do was support her. 

He reached a clearing were many demons were gathered around a makeshift table. They were placing bets apparently. Richard Grayson smiled to himself; he had just found the perfect setting for a riot.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mika was feeling uneasy, she was no superhero. It had been fun running around in mask saving kittens from trees and stopping common burglars from robbing old ladies, but this was on a whole different level. Battling a giant mechanical dog, a super powered mechanical T-Rex, and a maniac loaded with guns looked… painful. She might not die from a bullet hole, but that still hurt like shit. Regardless of appearances the vampire was a pacifist. Heck she was a vegan!

As they arrived to the crime scene Bumblebee and Speedy ran to stop the mechanical T-Rex from trashing a government building; while Mas and Menos circled at high speed the giant dog to prevent it from biting in half an armored vehicle from the bank. Mika just stood there dumbfounded as she watched in horror how the first Titan fell to the ground unconscious. Aqualad had immediately located Johnny Rancid and manipulated water from a hydrant to ride it like a surfboard against him. The criminal saw him approach and took out an electric whip which impacted his water wave sending jolts of electricity thought the atlantian’s body knocking him out cold. The vampire approached the Titan to check his vital signs, and there’s where Johnny saw her. 

“Who do we have here? The dike that got me arrested last time…” he smiled wickedly and jumped on his bike. “This time I’m gonna make sure you girl stay dead.”

He rode his motorcycle at high speed towards the vamp. Mika managed to leap out of the way but Johnny backtracked rapidly and before she could react he fired a metal rod from his bike. Last she knew she was impaled to a retail store wall. Her senses numbed as pain coursed through her body and blood invaded her vision. She distantly heard panicked screams, the churning of metal and faint explosions. The Titans were probably kicking ass right now… but she was no hero. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She was no villain. This whole plotting to behead her brother and gain control of the demonic army responsible of the annihilation of several dimensions didn’t feel right. And the pain of her brand new tattoos didn’t help either. Raven was lying on the floor as Belphegor tattooed her legs aided by Arella, who had insisted on being present. Since she was wearing only her underwear, her friends had left them in a private room. They had been there for an hour in silence, until her half brother broke the silence. 

“Happy Birthday.” muttered Belphegor under his breath. 

“What?” asked Raven unsure of what she’d heard. 

“Happy Birthday… the Titans said it’s your 20th Birthday.” 

“Oh… thanks I guess.” answered the Titan awkwardly. 

“So you’re going to blow the candles once this is all over?” 

“Don’t know… probably back home Mika will have something planned for me… although she was kind of disappointed for not being able to come.” 

“Mika? Is that your girlfriend?” he asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“Why didn’t she come? Didn’t dare face your mother?” commented the demon halfling looking at Arella over his shoulder. She had been watching his every move with an icy cold stare and now she just raised her eyebrow at his comment. 

“It’s not that, she actually wanted to. But Mika wouldn’t have being able to pass though the seal.” 

“So… she is a demon…” stated Belphegor as a fact, not as a question. 

“No… well, not sure… are vampires demons?” asked the goth Titan. 

“Vampire?” Belphegor waited for Raven to nod. “Well not entirely… a human cannot become a demon, one has to be born a demon. The vampires’ dead bodies house a lesser demonic spirit they call The Beast. It does not think on its own, that’s why their human souls are entrapped inside unable to move on after death. They slowly become infected by the thirst of the Beast, it’s like a virus that corrupts their souls until they become the very monster that preyed on them… that can happen in a couple of years or centuries, depending on how corruptible they can be.” 

“Mika is a vegan… she is very self restrained…” defended her girlfriend. 

“Fitting for the super heroine demoness… Well… at least she must be a demon in the sack; Gluttony and Lust spawned the blood suckers.” 

“Belphegor! My mother is here.” chastised Raven. 

“Yes, I so did not want to know that…” finally spoke Arella. 

“Sorry… demon…” apologized halfheartedly her demonic brother. 

“Yes, hard to forget.” 

Raven watched the hostile interaction between her mother and her half brother. They were both on edge around each other and had avoided direct eye contact. Raven could only guess Arella was being motherly, but couldn’t quite pinpoint why Belphegor seemed so disturbed by a human’s presence. 

“So… Why are you here Arella? Aren't you afraid of us demons like the rest of her friends?” 

“I’m not afraid of my own daughter…” spited Arella back to him “and I bet she can kick your ass if need arises, so why should I worry?” 

“That’s what you say now… she’s a bloody superhero.”

“What does that mean?” 

“Nothing…” and with that Belphegor went back to his job. 

“You don’t like humans much, do you?” ventured to ask the white robed woman, to what Belphegor finally looked at her directly in the eyes before answering. 

“My mother tried to kill me when I was 3 because she was scared of me, of what I would become. But I was saved by a merciful woman who took me as her own son. When I was 12 she was burned at the stake because the people in the village believed she was a witch.” at this last statement the empath felt a wave of sorrow from her half brother. “I was frowned and look down to, so I lived at the forest outside the village, near the beach. When pirates landed on shore and came to pillage and plunder, I saw them coming beforehand, but I said nothing. I just stood there and watched from afar how that night they sneaked in the houses and killed the children, raped the women, and took the men as slaves. I did nothing to prevent the carnage, and as the flames consumed the place I once called home I felt at ease. That is the demon that lives inside me and that I became.” 

“No…” replied Arella “that was the hurt little boy that never felt love from those around him. That was not your demon side… that was your human side. And I think it is your human side that wants to go home.” 

They stared at each other for a while as Raven silently looked at them. Even her inner voices had quieted waiting for his response. Belphegor finally broke the eye contact in their battle of wills and resumed his work. 

“Whatever…” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mikaela opened her eyes to see Mas and Menos inspecting the wound. They gasped relieved when they saw her move. “Sigue con vida! Hay que traer un doctor!” 

“No…” Mika whispered faintly as she saw the worried expression of the Guatemalan twins. They were going to look for medical attention for her. “Quitenme esto, estoy bien.” she urged them to take out the metal rod. “Por favor” Mas and Menos looked at each other unsure of what to do, but finally they did as requested and pulled out the metal rod that had pierced Mika’s chest. 

The twins looked horrified as blood poured profusely from the wound and from Mika’s mouth. She laid on fours as the pain and pressure from her chest slowly faded. But the pain was rapidly replaced by the hunger. Her senses suddenly sharpened as she smelled the sweet scent of sweat emanating from the hot blooded humans around her. Her ears were thundered by the sound of beating hearts and her mouth got dry. She was thirsty… blood thirsty. 

Mas and Menos got close to her to try and take her to a hospital, but the vampire pushed them away with inhuman strength. They backed off as they saw her menacing bloodshot eyes and fear crawled up their spines. Mika then turned her sight to see the Titans subduing Johnny Rancid and she smiled to herself. In this state she would probably kill somebody. Better be someone that deserved it… 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Are you alright?” asked Arella as she approached her daughter. They were only an hour away from the confrontation. Raven had been meditating on her mother’s cottage in preparation, as Arella played the piano for her. The other Titans were outside playing with her foster siblings, they were too fidgety since their leader had left. 

“I am used to battling super powered villains, yet right now, my stomach is all acidy.” answered the empath. “I also wonder what Mika is doing right now… I have the feeling that somehow she got in trouble.” 

“She’s probably fine, you are just worried. You’ll see her once everything is over.” she smiled sadly. “I’m guessing you won’t be staying then.” 

“I just got demonic tattoos all over my body; I don’t think Azar will find that suitable for her successor.” answered the Titan. “Plus, I really don’t belong here... I wouldn’t be able to leave behind my friends and my girlfriend back on Earth.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I’m glad you can now portray such strong feelings towards others.” remarked her mother fondly. “By the way, I think your girlfriend will like your tattoos…” 

“Arella!” 

“What? They look really cool if you think about it… they suit you; and the message too.” 

“You think this will give me an advantage as Belphegor said?” asked the Titan still doubtful. But at that moment her half brother walked in. 

“It’s time to go.” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Raven walked to the place of the match flanked by her friends. They were there for moral support only, since they were not allowed to intervene. In the center of the island the demons had built a ring where the battle would take place. The demonic army had already positioned themselves around to watch. Expectation and blood lust filled the air. 

Ammon stood in the middle; he had a broadsword at his side and looked smug with confidence. Both Raven and Belphegor stood in front of him with deadpanned expressions. He had warned her sister that Ammon would try to intimidate her as well so they decided best to show no emotion. 

“Well now that we are here the rules are simple.” began explaining the demon halfling. “It’s a duel to the death; the winner will be the one that beheads the opponent first. There shall be no assistance of others during the fight, hence risking automatically losing; which will allow this generous flock of demons to invade the ring and devour the looser. You are entitled one demonic weapon. The winner will take control of the army to do as he or she pleases. Understoo…?” 

Belphegor turned to face Raven as he said the last part, but he didn’t get to finish the sentence. “Your clothes are stained…” The demoness was a little confused, and turned to look at her white clothes which were tainted with splatters of red. Then she turned to look back at him and his eyes had gone blank. A stream of blood poured from his slightly opened mouth, and then she saw Belphegor’s midsection pierced by a broad sword from behind, almost cutting him in half. 

Ammon stood smiling behind him and withdrew the sword. Her brother’s mutilated body fell lifeless to the ground. 

“Understood brother.” 

—-

_ To be continued…  _


	9. All Life is Sacred

Raven watched as Belphegor’s limp body fell to the ground making a puddle of blood under her feet. His blank opened eyes stared sadly back at her. The empath’s breath became ragged, and her senses numbed as the voices inside of her became deafening.

_ MURDERER!  _

_ He just wanted to go back home… _

_ WE’LL MAKE HIM PAY FOR THIS INJUSTICE!! _

_ He was our brother… _

_ He was like us; he just had not found his family yet… _

_ HIS BLOOD IS MINE!! _

Raven could feel her emotions aching to spur out of control. Rage was too close to her skin and Belphegor’s sudden death unsettled her. The demonic power that fueled her long sword tickled her skin and activated her recently acquired tattoos. Her four crimson eyes looked at her opponent as she levitated above Ammon. And as she began speaking, her voice was no longer human, it was of her demon self. 

“You made a terrible mistake… brother.” 

As the power emanating from Raven grew, the sky covered with thundering clouds and it created wind currents that opened her cloak revealing the message imprinted on her skin, making the demonic hordes around them gasp. 

BE WARNED. 

THIS IS RAVEN THE KINSLAYER. 

DAUGHTER OF AZARATH. HEIRESS OF THE DEMON HORDES. 

GUARDIAN OF THE EARTH.

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Pain spread suddenly all over his body and he could feel his vision blur. The stench of blood overcame his senses; and he wasn’t sure if it came from him or from the demons around him. 

“Stupid human! Thought you could fool us?” 

Nightwing felt his head might split in two. He had been hit with a metallic club and was suspended by both arms by demons, as a third one barked curses in his face. 

He had being successful in gathering a small army of rebels to revolt against Ammon. His personification of a mischievous demon was not that hard, after all, he had successfully fooled the Titans when he created the Red X suit. But he didn’t consider the possibility of Belphegor dying, and with him, his concealing spell. 

“You cannot kill me…” 

The demons around him broke out laughing. The bigger one in front of him hollered and spitted on his face. 

"And why not?"

"Because of her..." said Nightwing as he turned his eyes towards the floating figure of Raven. 

Everyone turned their eyes to the sky to see the demoness in all her might. Her four crimson eyes and demonic marks glowed menancily in the dark sky. Ammon looked taken aback. And as Raven released her first wave of dark energy towards her opponent, the explosion caused a big cloud of dust to lift from the ground covering them all momentarily in shadows. Once the dust cloud dissipated Nightwing spoke again. 

"Because she is going to win... And if you kill me she will have your heads for dinner."

The demons looked frightened to one another. Then the leader of the Titans hit the ground with a thud as the demons around backed away from him. He crawled to a nearby pond and took some water to quench his thirst. 

“It’s up to you now…” – he uttered as he looked up to the sky to see the battling figure of Raven. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on Earth, Mikaela the Vampire drank to her heart’s content. Johnny Rancid was a big, strong guy, and his blood was rich and satisfying. She could feel her internal organs heal and her wounds close as his heart beat grew weaker. But as she sucked the life out of his prey she felt a jolt of electricity run across her body. She released him and the last thing she saw was the leader of Titan’s East pointing her weapons at her, before she fainted. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Raven woke up startled. She was laying on the grass outside Arella's cottage. She could hear music playing from the piano inside as the wind caressing her skin carried the melody to her ears. 

"What happened? Did I win?" 

She was very confused so she stood up and walked inside. She saw a purple robed figure at the piano and that's when she finally got what was going on. 

"Love! What am I doing in Nevermore?" 

"Oh, hi Rae!" said the purple emoticlon lovingly. "Isn't it obvious?" 

Raven lifted an eyebrow confused. 

"Red is at the steering wheel." answered her persona as a matter of fact. 

"Oh..." Raven just stood there as Love resumed her song on the piano. "Ok I get that, but why is my consciousness in your cottage?" 

"Well... Isn't it obvious?" asked the emoticlone as she stopped her song again. 

"No, not really. Maybe I'm just being stupid, but please enlighten me." Raven didn’t like to be outsmarted, let alone by herself. 

Love smiled fondly at the Titan’s frustration. Then she explained as if she were talking to a small child. "You came here so you can remember what's important, so that Rage does not consume you and we can go back home after all this is over."

"Ok... How am I supposed to do that?" 

"Just relax... Close your eyes. Enjoy the music." 

Raven stood there for a few minutes as Love resumed her song. She finally surrendered and sat in lotus position on the floor and closed her eyes. The song reminded her of the cuu of doves and the soothing sound of tree leaves falling. She felt herself drown deep in her own subconscious. 

\---

Next time she opened her eyes, she was facing herself in the gardens of Azar's temple. Only that she was seeing herself as a kid, probably 8. She was meditating in her white temple robes as it was mandatory of her every morning. Raven was a little confused at first, but then realized this must be a memory. 

"Raven" called one of the monks and the kid stood up to greet the elder. "It is time to feed the ducks in the pond. Would you like to come with me?" the child gave him a cheeky grin and nodded. 

_ I remember him... I liked him a lot. He always made me feel normal. _ – recalled the Titan warmly. -  _ But one day he just disappeared... _

Raven saw herself follow the monk to the pond to feed the ducks. She liked to get out of the temple’s confinement. The sun caressed her face as she looked up to the sky. Birds sang in the trees along with the wind, and the monk smiled kindly at her. She had always remained obediently by his side as he went on his daily shores in the gardens, but she was still a child and curiosity spurred in her. 

She heard the faint noise of laughter coming from behind the trees, and she sneaked out of his sight to investigate. Out of the praying eyes of adults, three children had captured one of the ducks and were holding it captive in a wooden box. The kids looked a little bit older than Raven, and were torturing the innocent creature by pretending to let it go and then putting the box on top of it again and then laughing at it.

“Hey… don’t do that…” called Raven. 

The three kids turned to look at her. They couldn’t quite see her face under the hood of her white temple robe, so they approached her. The bigger one that looked like the leader had a mischievous smile and poked Raven in her arm to make her flinch. 

“And why not, midget?” teased the bully. 

“Because all life is sacred.” recited child Raven timidly. She had been well lectured in the pacifist way of life of the temple. 

“Oh really?” the big kid gathered the box from the ground with the duck still inside to hold it over his head. “Well then come and save it midget!” 

The other kids laughed and started running around her in circles poking and making fun of her. She was feeling her emotions build up and began breathing rapidly. The monks had told her to be kind, that all life was sacred, that aggression was uncalled for. But her heart was beating with intensity. The noise from their laughter and their mockery deafened her senses. 

“stop…” she uttered faintly. 

They pretended not to listen and continued their mockery. Little Raven chanted mentally her mantra but it was to no use. She felt intense energy build up inside of her, and as she pressed her knuckles together trying to rein it in, tears of frustration ran down her cheeks. Finally she exploded. 

“STOP!” 

The kids backed away horrified. Her voice was off, and as she levitated from the ground with her powers, her hood fell back and her menacing demonic eyes terrified them in place. The kids began shaking and crying like babies. She felt rage build inside her and as she was to release a blast of energy against her molesters, Raven heard the faint, familiar sound of her protector. 

¡Raven NO! - yelled the monk. 

But it was too late, she had lost control of her powers and as she released her black shadow energy she just heard the muffled yelp of his mentor as he jumped in front of the children to protect them. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“I was not going to kill him! I swear!” 

The Titan’s East had taken the vampire back to Titan’s Tower in a fortified power cage, right after they took Johnny Rancid to the hospital. After she passed out they were not sure if she was alive or not, but her wounds had healed and she was no longer bleeding, so they took her with them. A few minutes after arriving she woke up panicked at been caged like an animal. They had her in the middle of the living room, right in front of the big windows, so she began making a ruckus so they would let her out. 

“Johnny Rancid is in the hospital right now, you left him in the brink of death.” chastised Aqualad. 

“Well I’m sorry, I told you I was no superhero!” 

“What are you exactly?” asked Speedy confused. 

“I’m complicated.” was her only response. 

“Then you’ll stay there until the Titans come home and uncomplicate things.” sentenced the leader of Titan’s East. 

“But they are not coming until tomorrow! You have to get me out of here! Sunrise is a few hours away and…aarrgghh!” Mika growled as she felt a sudden jolt of electricity ran across her hands which she quickly drew back from the cell bars. 

Bumblebee turned on the electrified power on the bars to keep her from escaping. She was unsure of how dangerous she could really be. 

“That’s not our concern.” 

And as the Titan’s East leader walked away Mika remained in her cage looking at the big window. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Raven woke up from her trance again in Love’s cottage. She was staring blankly at the window overseeing the pond. Her memory had being interrupted at the moment her powers got out of control. 

“How come I don’t remember what happened afterwards?” 

“Maybe we suppressed it.” answered Love saddened. “Sometimes that happens with traumatic events…” 

“Is there a way to remember that?” 

“Why would you want to remember that?” 

“There is a reason why I saw this vision.” clarified the Titan. 

“Well… It happened to us… I guess you must be able to recall it somehow…” 

Raven sat again in lotus position. She breathed in deeply and resumed her meditation as her emoticlone played Arella's tune on the piano. There where different layers of her psyche, being Nevermore only the entry port where her emotions roamed; but her memories where deeper inside of her. 

\---

Raven opened her eyes to see herself again as a child. Tears smeared her face as she walked the endless halls of Azar’s temple. She finally reached the main chamber were Azar, her mentor sat in meditation. 

"Azar, blessed one." said Raven as she bowed in front of the elder.

Azar opened her eyes to look at Raven. 

"I feel great despair in you my child." 

Raven had never considered herself to be oversensitive. But at the words of her elder tears began running down her cheeks and things began to explode around them; first a candle, then a vase, the chandelier, and Azar’s necklace. 

“I am sorry…” 

“You need to breathe my child.” 

Raven closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she repeated her mantra over and over again with her little hands as in prayer. After a few minutes she opened them again and looked at her mentor saddened. 

“Everyone is afraid of me…” 

“Are you afraid of yourself?” asked the Azarathian leader. 

“Yes.” admitted the little one. “Things get destroyed around me. People get hurt or… worst.” 

Azar paced around the main chamber deep in thought. She seemed troubled and uncertain of how to proceed.

“I was afraid we would come to a point where your powers became too great for you to control. Do you feel it? The rage?” 

“I feel it. I feel it grow inside of me. And I feel everyone… and they don’t like me.” 

Azar was a tall, slender woman, with golden, wise eyes. She kneeled in front of her charge, and caressed her violet hair. 

“There is something we might be able to do.” 

The child looked back at her with hope in her eyes. 

“But it will be very painful, not physically, but mentally and spiritually.” began explaining Azar. “Your powers are fueled by your emotions of fear and hate. So we will have to fracture your soul self into different aspects of your personality. With that we will be able to imprison your rage inside.” 

“Ok.” answered the kid without a moment to consider it. 

“Are you sure you will be ok with it?” inquired the elder concerned by the implications.“We are talking about fracturing a part of you. You will never be the same again.” 

“Even after what I did, you still ask for my permission to bind the part of me that likes to hurt people?” 

“All life is sacred Raven… never forget that. The only way for us to teach you compassion… is to show compassion towards you.” 

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Raven came back to herself as she was swinging her sword towards her beaten up opponent. Ammon looked tired and bloodied. She had managed to throw him to the ground ready for the final blow. And as her sword swiftly made its way towards her half brother's neck... She stopped. 

_ All life is sacred. _ – She repeated in her head the most valuable lesson the monks had left with her. 

She now understood where her emoticlones came from. Fracturing her soul self was a harsh measure, but it was the most compassionate thing her people did to her, so she could live some semblance of a normal life. That’s why Azar was so eager to make her whole again in the ritual.

She was overwhelmed, and Ammon took advantage of that moment of hesitation and kicked Raven several feet away from him. That's when she noticed she was also breathing hard and had taken a blow or two for her body ached in various places. Rage had done a good job softening her demonic half brother, but the battle was far from over. 

The demon lord noticed her change of pace and began pummeling hard. He had lost his broadsword, but he was perfectly capable of crushing her neck with his bare hands. Without Rage on the steering wheel she was losing ground rapidly. She heard her friends cheering for her in the distance, along with the yells from the demonic horde. Many rooted for her, just like Belphegor, many just wanted to go home. 

Ammon had managed to throw her to the ground and was beating on her. The sound of his fist against her face was numbing her senses. And as he punished her hard the yelling inside of her was also deafening. 

_ We have to kill him! _

_ No! We promised to never do that again! _

_ Our friends are in danger! _

_ Many more will die if we don't do something! _

"What is it sister?" wondered Ammon as he pinned her against the ground. "What happened to the ruthless kinslayer?"

"I am not going to kill you... All life is sacred!" spitted back the hero. 

"Too bad..." they both held Raven's sword and he was dangerously approaching the sharp end to her neck "Then that means I… KILL… YOU!"

And as the blade faintly creased her grayish skin she smiled by what she saw behind Ammon. 

"Brother?"

The ghostly figure of Belphegor hovered over Ammon. Soon she felt her opponent's strength weaken as he began to choke. The ghost held him by the neck and pulled him away from Raven. 

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS"

Raven blasted him away from her. The big, red horned demon that reminded her of her father stumbled back as he wrestled with the ghost of Belphegor. He tried to swing the sword he took from Raven against the invisible force that threatened him, but to no use. In his desperation he threw the sword up in the sky and as he choked from his dead brother’s grip the sword found its way to pierce him in the back. As the demon fell to the ground wounded, the sword impaled him, finally ending the fight.

Silence reigned the arena for a few seconds. Raven's ragged breath was suddenly interrupted by the holler of the demons and the cheers of her people. The Titans quickly ran to her to shower her with hugs and carry her away to be healed from her wounds. 

But before they could take her away from the place, she stopped by Belphegor's dead body and kneeled in front of him. She closed his eyes and made a small prayer for him to move on and find the light. 

"Thank you."

_ Told ya we had to cheat...  _ \- said the ghost appearing in front of her. Apparently she was the only one able to see him. 

“Thank you for saving us… and for saving my humanity.” 

_ That’s what family is for… I think. _ – he answered with a smirk on his face. 

"I'm sorry... I couldn't help you go home."

_ Oh no, you did... I am home now. _ \- those were his last word, before he vanished with a smile.

...

_ To be continued… _


	10. Blow Out the Candles

Raven watched through one of the windows in the main tower of Azar’s Temple, as the other Titans were outside overseen the demonic army’s departure. The Azarathian monks had opened several portals for the demons to travel back home and everything looked like it might go back to normal in no time. 

“Congratulations my child.” said Azar as she entered the room. 

They were in the infirmary wing where the Titans had taken Raven to recover. It was a nice, clean place and it allowed Raven to meditate in order to heal more rapidly. 

“Thank you Azar.” bowed the Titan as she spoke. “But I had help.” 

“Yes. Your half brother proved to be trustworthy after all. Still, you overcame the ordeal.” Azarath’s ruler smiled kindly at her. “I hope you are not too tired, it is still your birthday, and we still have time to go on with the Zarathian Passage...” 

“I’m not going through with it.” interrupted Raven. “I don’t belong here. My place is back on Earth.” 

Azar looked at her eyes compassionately, and after a few seconds she finally nodded in understanding. “Well then, you have to at least allow your people to celebrate your birthday. Everyone was preparing a big feast for you.” 

“Let them better mourn their loved ones that perished in the first attack, and nurse the injured.” said Raven as she was really not one for big celebrations. 

“You’ve always being very considerate.” 

“No, I’ve just always been very antisocial.” 

They both smiled at this, and then turned to look through the window to see the monks finally closing the portals. The Titans would be back to check on her in no time. 

“If you don’t mind Azar, I have to go back. Someone is waiting for me back home.” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ok guys, she's gotta be here somewhere. I know the Tower is big but we don't have many places left for her to hide." 

Bumblebee, Aqualad and Speedy walked around Titans Tower looking for their escaped prisoner. Mika had successfully tricked Mas and Menos to power down the electric current in her cell bars and then grabbed Menos from the neck. As Mas was forced into opening the cage, they where both bitten and knocked unconscious in the process. 

"Guys you think it was safe to leave Mas and Menos in the infirmary alone?" asked Speedy. 

"I doubt she will go after them. If she had wanted to kill them, she had plenty of time." reasoned Aqualad. 

"No, I mean what if they wake up as vampires or something and try to eat us as soon as the sun goes down!" yelped Speedy in evident panic. 

"Vampires?" muttered Bumblebee. “Boy you have to stop watching so much TV.” 

"Come on, don't you think that's what she is?" 

"Well, that might explain why there's being no noise from her since the sunrise." agreed the Atlantian hero. "But that might also put us in trouble. The sun is about to go down. Maybe we should go check on the twins just to be sure." 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“According to my calculations we’ll be arriving at the Tower right after sundown.” Cyborg commented as he winked an eye at Raven. “Just in time for smooch fest with your girl.” 

“Oh Azar…”

Raven’s mother walked towards the Titans carrying magic supplies. They were back on the little floating island that homed Arella’s cottage after saying goodbye to the temple folk. Raven was preparing a portal near the lake, big enough for everyone to go through and return to Titan’s Tower. 

“Don’t worry Arella, I doubt Mika will be that bold with you around.” said Raven smiling at her mother. "Thanks for coming by the way." 

"Hey, I'm not going to miss another of my daughter's birthdays ever." replied Arella "Plus I do want to meet that girlfriend of yours."

"You are going to like her. She is beautiful and charming like..."

"Like a vampire? That's what I fear actually." interrupted her mother. 

"She is not a bad girl... she just pretends to be for show off; but she’s actually harmless as a cub." defended de goth Titan. 

“Yeah, a panther cub; with fangs and claws.” quipped in Nightwing. 

“Not helping Richard.” 

“I wonder what Mika has been preparing for our arrival.” everyone turned their eyes towards Starfire. “Your lady friend probably prepared something big as a surprise, don’t you think?”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Well this is unexpected; they don’t look dead… yet.” said Speedy as he approached the twins that were lying in bed in the infirmary of Titans Tower. He had woken them up poking them with a stick. 

“Speedy stop it.” chastised his leader. 

"Estamos bien, sólo nos faltaba descansar un poco." 

"What?" 

"They say they are fine." clarified Aqualad. “Why don’t you learn some Spanish?” 

“What!?” exclaimed Speedy shocked. “Why don’t they learn English already? We live in the US!” 

“Qué amargado es este tipo.” 

“What!?”

Suddenly the alarm in Titan’s Tower went off and red lights began to glare all over. 

"She triggered the alarm. I set it so no one could escape." explained Aqualad. "I think you are right, she is a vampire. She tried to escape as soon as the sun went down." 

The Titans ran to the main room to look into the monitors, to see if they could now catch her movement. But as soon as they entered the common room, a chocolate brown wolf grabbed Speedy from the collar and threw him hard, making him crash into the kitchen. The beast growled at them as it looked like they were blocking its path towards the exit. 

“Wooow… either the zoo lost a furry friend or we are dealing with the supernatural.” Bumblebee quipped in starting to believe the vampire theory. 

“I think I’ll go with the supernatural.” agreed Aqualad. 

“Guys stay away from the twins! Tonight’s a full moon; they’ll turn into werewolves any minute now!” yelped Speedy from the kitchen as he removed a frying pan from his head. 

“A werewolf?! Really?” said Mika in shock as she morphed back. “I’m insulted.” 

“Titans get her!”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The original team arrived to Titan's Tower in a swirl of blue smoke. But as the fog cleared and the buzz from their interdimensional trip faded they landed in the devastated war zone of what used to be their living room. They were in shock, first thinking maybe someone had broken in; but then they saw them. Mika was riding Speedy's back as she used him as a human shield to prevent electroshocks from Bumblebee. 

"Get her away from me! She's going to kill me and turn me into… whatever it is she is!" yelped Speedy in panic.

"What the hell is going on?" called Nightwing over the mayhem. 

Everyone turned to see the team had returned home. In the distraction Mika jumped to Raven's feet and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you are home!" 

"Mika what happened?” asked Raven concerned as she inspected her girlfriend that clang to her. “Why are your clothes bloodied and thorn?" 

"Those maniacs tried to kill me!" answered the vamp as she pointed in the direction of the young heroes from the east. 

"What!? She tried to kill us!" 

Everyone began arguing at the same time making it impossible for the team to understand a word they were saying. So Cyborg loaded the mainframe computer into his own system to figure out what had happened from the security cameras. 

"Ok everyone quiet! Apparently Mika was goofing around the Tower when the Titan's east came along and confused her for a criminal. They also busted her playing online poker on the Titan’s mainframe computer." 

Everyone turned to look at Mika who looked back with guilt written all over her face. 

"I was bored! And online poker is not illegal… maybe I shouldn’t have used your computer for that though..." 

“Mika…” chastised Raven as she started to lose her patience. 

“Come on, the big screen is too tempting!”

"She also took my stuff for a ride!" yelped Nightwing offended as he retrieved information from the mainframe.

"I put it back!" immediately defended the vampire. 

“You left it as a bloody mess on the floor in the garage!” growled Nightwing in outrage showing them the camera of the lower floors. 

"I was going to clean that but I was interrupted by the jerk squad!” 

The Titan’s East immediately began arguing with the vampire again. Raven took her hands to her temples as she felt a headache growing. Soon she lost her patience and yelled: 

“Quiet!”

Mika looked back at her sheepishly. She took her hand and quickly began excusing herself for what had happened. 

“Look I didn't break it or anything! I actually put it to good use while you guys were gone. I saved some miners from a cave in, stopped a robbery, and saved 2 kittens!” continued the vampire, before turning to look at Nightwing and adding: “You should be grateful, after all, you are going to take the credit for it!"

"Ok, am confused... Why would you pretend to be Nightwing?" asked Raven as she tried to imagine what could have possibly possessed her girlfriend into paroling around as him. 

"You told me to pretend to be a hero!" 

"That's really not what I had in mind…” the demoness looked a bit pissed off, but Mika’s sheepish expression made her relax her features, until she finally admitted Although we should probably let it pass considering we did leave the city without protection." 

The Titans actually seemed a little guilty at leaving the city without calling for backup. The alarm at Titan’s Tower had obviously been still active and Mika had answered for them, so they were not really sure what to make out of it. 

"That still doesn't explain why you guys trashed the place and broke my gamestation in the process!" shrilled Beast Boy disheartened as he lifted a broken controller from the floor; bringing everyone back to the present situation that didn’t really make sense. So Bumblebee took a deep breath to calm down and start explaining. 

"After our first misunderstanding we figured out she was your girlfriend." 

"You know?" asked Raven mortified. 

"Yeah, Cy told me about her. Although he failed to mention that she could potentially try to eats us." 

"They forced my hand..." jumped in the vamp. 

"Mika, just let her continue." 

"Then a distress call came and we took her along to face Johnny Rancid." continued explaining Bumblebee. 

"Johnny Rancid? He is at the top of my shit list... He is very dangerous." reasoned the Titan’s leader. "Why would you take her with you? A couple of kittens doesn't suddenly turn someone into a superhero." 

"That's what I told them!” finally agreeing with Nightwing. “But those assholes wouldn't listen! That fucking bastard impaled me with a metal rod! And one of my favorite t-shirts got ruined!" said the Vampire as she pointed at her midsection, where there was a big hole in her clothes from where lots of blood had gushed out splattering her shirt and jeans. 

"How did you survive that?” asked Raven still a little shocked at her appearance. She looked like taken out from a horror movie; dirty, bloodied, and with slightly crimson eyes. “Wait… Isn't that shirt mine?" 

"Luv, the advantage of being gay is that your wardrobe gets exponentially bigger…” at that the vampire took a second look at her girlfriend. “Speaking of wardrobe..."

Mika looked at Raven up and down with a lascivious smile inspecting her new costume and brand new tattoos. The Titan had decided she liked the new robes. Instead of a leotard she had a skin tight long dress with openings to the sides that showed her legs and allowed movement, knee height boots, gloves, gold belt, and her robe. Everything in her favorite color: dark blue. So after the quick inspection the vampire whistled appreciatively. Raven only rolled her eyes and Arella cleared her throat to defuse the attention from her daughter. 

"And who the hell are you?" asked Mika rudely as she noticed the stranger. 

"Mika that's Arella... my mother." 

"Your mother...” she suddenly straightened her back and opened her eyes widely. “I suck at first impressions, don't I?”

"Yep. You do."

At sensing the tension Starfire tried to bring everyone back to the most pressing matter. "But that does not explain why you Titans ended up trying to capture Raven’s lady friend.” 

"She almost killed Johnny Rancid, so we put her in a cage." stated as a matter of fact Aqualad. 

Again, everyone turned to look back at the vampire.

"Almost being the keyword here...” Mika tried to play it cool but as Raven crossed her arms over her chest she knew she was in trouble “I'm sorry, I lost a lot of blood. I couldn't control myself. Hadn't I being dead already he would have killed me." 

"So you tried to kill him?" asked her girlfriend waiting for a good explanation.

"I'm sorry. I won't try anything stupidly heroic again... I'll leave the stupidly heroic part to you from now on, ok." 

Raven just sighed and rolled her eyes. She had tried to convince everyone that her girlfriend was perfectly harmless and good natured, but Mika had stupidly thrown everything out the window trying to play hero.

"Why did you put her in a cage anyway?" resumed the questioning Nightwing, hoping to finally end the subject. 

"We didn't know if she was dangerous." 

"No, she's not dangerous, not most of the time anyway. She's just stupid, and that is most of the time.” answered Raven as she looked at her girlfriend who was sheepishly looking down at the floor. “Now can we just forget everything; only because I'm still trying to celebrate my birthday and I’ve had enough family drama for a lifetime?" 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After finally making peace between the vampire and Titan’s East they all took off to the roof of Titan’s Tower. Since cleaning up the living room would take some time, they decided it was best to just forget about it for now and prepared the grill for a midnight barbecue by the moonlight. They turned on the music, and set a table for their dinner, and as Raven was being forced into wearing a crown of meat prepared by Starfire; Arella had approached Mika that had stayed in the sidelines watching. 

"You really think you fool everyone?" 

“Is this the part where you tell me to stay away from your daughter?” answered the vampire coolly. 

“I know your type. I got in lots of trouble because I was also attracted to your type. You like to play it cool, and pretend to be harmless so everyone falls for your charms.” 

"I'm not trying to play good." corrected Mika. "Actually, I really enjoy playing bad. You should see Nightwing squirm with my jabs." 

"Are you always this shameless?" 

"Don't worry about your daughter Arella. This is just for show off.” said the vamp pointing at her fresh set of clothes all in black. She looked more decent now without all the blood, but she was still in her bad girl garb. “Dog that bark does not bite." 

"Well I know as a fact that you do bite..." remarked Arella. 

"Well your daughter can do more than bite, I know that. Maybe I should be the one worried about the hard ass demoness with the sexy tattoos." replied Mika as she turned to look at Raven stuffing her mouth with ribs from the grill. “What’s up with that anyway? I thought she was going through some passage ritual of some holy shit, and stuff… and she definitely doesn’t look holy.” 

“It’s a long story...” 

“No doubt about that. She’s got the appetite to prove it.” then the vampire turned to look at her. “Aren’t you going to eat with the others Arella? Or is it that I'm really so important as to miss dinner?"

“No, I’m a vegan.” she said chucking, as she knew that was the word Raven used to describe her girlfriend. “Although I haven’t eaten meat in such a long time that am actually considering indulging myself, Cyborg is actually insisting I try it.” 

“Why if I say the same thing I feel I won’t get such positive encouragement?” asked Mika with a playful smirk. 

"Yeah, I wonder why.” Arella couldn’t help smiling; she had to admit her daughter was right when she said Mika was extremely charming, but still she had her doubts. “You really think you are up to her?" 

"No... I am not." admitted Mikaela. “I've always known that, and she's always known that too. Yet she looks at me in the eyes and she sees kindness in me, and she makes me feel there might be some hope for me too, just like there was for her. And that's good enough reason for me to try and make this work." 

“So I don’t scare you, do I?” 

“Why would I be scared of the long lost mother who never tried to contact her daughter in several years until now? You might be her birth mother Arella, but don’t pretend that you know her or that you know what is good for her. And don’t pretend to know what I am like either.”

“Fair enough.” said the acolyte finally giving up. “I see now what she sees in you. You have the backbone to not be put down easily.” 

“Why would I be put down by someone so much younger than me?” 

“I guess… if vampires are immortal how old are you?” inquired Arella intrigued. 

“Old enough.”

“Mmmh… I wonder if Raven’s demonic blood will also make her live young for a long time like it did to his half brother… if that were the case maybe you might actually be a more suitable partner for her.” said Arella considering her thoughts. 

“Let’s hope that’s the case.” 

They remained in silence for a while watching the Titans enjoy their time. They were all laughing loudly as Raven had thrown a piece of cake on top of Gar’s head. They both seemed content with just watching from afar. 

"Please don't disappoint her." finally asked Arella as she walked away towards her daughter. It was almost time for her to go back to Azarath. 

"Oh, I probably will... But I give you my word I'll try." whispered the vampire as she saw the woman hug her goodbyes to the Titans. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

“What were you talking with my mother?” 

Raven and Mika were snuggled on Raven’s bed. The party was finally over. Raven had opened a portal for Arella to go back home, and the Titan’s East had returned to their own Tower as well. The night was almost over and the lovers were finally alone. 

“Oh she was just giving us her blessing.” 

“Liar.” chastised Raven as she rolled her eyes. 

“Just because I decided to wear a Bad to the Bone T-shirt spluttered with blood when I met your mother and broke my vegan diet, you think I’m lying?”

"Also because you trashed the Tower." added the Titan. 

"I didn't trash the Tower... That was Bumble Bitch, Stupidy, and Aquafag." 

"You also hacked in the mainframe computer and stole Nightwing's stuff."

"I didn't steal it, I put it back. I just borrowed it." corrected Mika. 

"And you went through my stuff." 

"Ok... That I did." admitted the vampire. 

“I don’t like you going through my stuff.” said Raven as she playfully straddled Mika while holding her down on the bed. 

“What are you going to do? Punish me?”

“Yes, you have been very bad.” 

Raven pinned Mika to the bed and took hold of her arms over her head. The Titan began kissing her subdued girlfriend in the neck and roamed her body with her free hand. But as the make out session was getting steamier, Mika stopped her. 

“Oh wait; before we have amazingly hot, steamy sex, I have something for you!” 

Mika easily picked up Raven from top of her and placed her on the bed. The Titan realized they were probably evenly matched in strength so it was no wonder she had easily impersonated Nightwing. The only reason she allowed her to hold her against the bed was because she wanted to be held there.

The vampire stood up and walked to the drawer from where she took out a small, chocolate cupcake with a single red candle on top of it. She ceremoniously walked to Raven and presented it to her with a smile. 

“A cupcake?”

“Not just a cupcake! It has a candle!” exclaimed Mika happily. 

“Ok… not to sound materialist or anything but a cupcake with a candle is all you thought as your big surprise for me?” asked Raven a little disappointed. Mika had always showered her with gifts for all random occasions that, even though she hated it, she was actually expecting to find a huge surprise waiting for her. Especially after all that she went through the past few days; she was kind of hoping to be pampered. 

“You expected diamonds luv?” 

“No, but I already had cake… lots of it.” answered the Titan trying not to sound too annoyed or disappointed. 

“Yeah but you didn’t blow out the candles. You didn’t make your wish.” 

“Wishes are for kids… I mean all my life I wished to be normal and look at me.” 

“Pfff normal is overrated!” answered Mika still lighthearted despise Raven's lack of enthusiasm. “Plus this candle is special.” 

“Why special?” inquired the birthday girl. 

“Because this is the kinky candle.” explained Mika “You can only make kinky wishes, and your kinky girlfriend will make them come true.” 

“Ooohh I see.” Raven was finally starting to see Mika was actually thinking of something more besides the cupcake as a present. “But I’m not supposed to tell you my wish, or else it won’t come true. How are you supposed to make it happen then?” 

“Well, guess I’ll have to use my imagination to come up with all kinds of kinkiness until your wish comes true. Although that’s going to be expensive, I mean, am gonna have to fill the bathtub with chocolate, buy lots of scented candles, build a Jacuzzi in the loft, rent an airplane, probably even buy off a Hollywood star for a threesome… so many things to get.” 

“You are an idiot!” shrieked the dark Titan finally bursting into laughter. 

“Yeah, but that’s why you love me.” Mika smiled back playfully and lit up the candle “Ready luv?” 

Raven looked at the candle in front of her, and at Mika behind it. She thought about her wish and all the fun she was going to get out of her girlfriend. Yes, she was a half demoness who fought crime and dated a vampire. Yes, her family drama was always going to be of apocalyptic proportions. Yes, she was never going to be normal. 

She blew out the candle and as the smoke dissipated in the air she thought about everything that had happened since arriving to Earth, and smiled. 

Yeah… normal is overrated.

...

_ The End… For now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic was originally called "Blow Out the Candles"; and although the story is still the same, I changed several parts, especially at the beginning, so it would fit better with the character's personalities and motivations. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it and stick around for the next entry "Darkness in Me".


End file.
